


It's Real

by 6Darkest6Angel6



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Depression, Episode: s05e08 Changing Channels, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Infection, Paralysis, Protective Bobby Singer, Protective Castiel, Protective Sam Winchester, Season/Series 05, Sick Dean Winchester, Worried Bobby, Worried Castiel, Worried Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2249457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6Darkest6Angel6/pseuds/6Darkest6Angel6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after changing channels. Dean & Sam run out of gas but Dean feels a sudden pain in his back...<br/>Slightly AU since Bobby isn't in a wheelchair</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. shot

"Dean, why are you slowing down?"

"I'm not. We've run out of gas... apparently," answered Dean, frowning. "Which is crap since I filled her up not that long ago." He pulled over with a sigh, then turned to Sam. "Where was the last gas station?"

"A couple of miles away I think. Do you want to go get some? There's no use sitting here for hours doing nothing."

Dean shrugged. "But... what about the car? Someone might kidnap her or something."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, nobody is going to kidnap your car. No-one can move her unless they're the Incredible Hulk or something. Now come on," he said, opening the door.

Dean ran his hand over the steering wheel. "I'll be back soon, baby. Don't miss me too much, okay?" He was silent for a minute, then he smiled. "You will? Awesome." He jumped when Sam banged on the window. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Dean got out of the car, and locked her up. "Are you happy now?"

"Have you finished being dramatic now?" Sam asked back. "You do know the car is not a person and can't talk, right?"

Dean glared at his brother as he got the empty gas can out of the boot to be filled up. "She may be a car, but she's family," he defended himself. "And by the way, she can talk. You have to listen to her engine to know what mood she's in."

"Oh my god." Sam shook his head, and started walking away, muttering about how weird his brother was.

"What?" Dean ran his hand over the roof, before following after his brother. "Hey Bitch, wait up." He caught up to Sam, but looked behind him, reluctant to leave his car behind.

"The car will be okay. Will you quit worrying?" Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder, and turned him around.

Dean shrugged Sam's hand off. "Just wait until you have to leave your baby behind, and see how you feel."

"Dean, will you-" Sam took a deep breath. "Nevermind. Telling you not to worry about the car will be like me telling you not to be sarcastic... It'll never happen."

"I'm not that sarcastic." He saw Sam looking at him with raised eyebrows. "Okay, maybe a little... But only the normal amount."

"Whatever, Dean."

"Do you really think she'll be alright?" asked the older Winchester, worriedly biting his lip.

"Dean, will you calm down? The car will be fine, do you think I'll walk away if there was any danger of someone breaking in? We've left all our stuff in there. And I don't know about you, but I don't fancy going around naked when we need to wash the clothes we've got on."

"Yeah. I'll only do that once. Never again." Dean shivered as he remembered the time his bag had been stolen, and he had to wash his clothes wrapped up in only the bed covers.

Sam smiled at the memory. "Besides, we haven't seen anybody for miles, and the car doesn't work anyway. So just chill out, okay?"

Dean took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I'm used to it."

Dean smiled back, but stopped and winced when he felt a sudden pain in his back.

Sam noticed the wince, and put his hand on Dean's arm. "Are you alright?"

Dean's breathing hitched, and he fell to his knees. "Ow. Sonofabitch," he whispered, dropping the gas can.

"Dean?" asked Sam in a panic, going down with his brother. "Dean, hey. What's wrong?"

"Ahhh. My... b-back. Sonofabitch, it hurts." Dean's face scrunched up in pain, and he fell against Sam.

Sam caught his brother, and held him in his arms. He used his free hand, and placed it against Dean's back. "Oh... oh my god," he whispered in horror when he pulled his hand away, and he saw the blood covering his palm.

"Dean, it's okay. I'm getting help." With his free hand, Sam pulled out his phone to dial 911.

Dean laid his head weakly against Sam's shoulder, and groaned in pain.

"Help. I need help. M-My brother's hurt," Sam said into the phone, holding his brother tighter. "I.. I don't know, he's bleeding. Just hurry... please."

Sam told the operator where they were, and turned back to Dean. He took his over-shirt off, and held it against Dean's back to stop the bleeding.

"Help is on the way. Stay with me, Dean," Sam told him, holding his big brother close. "Hold on."

Dean moaned in response as he fought against the pain.

"The ambulance will be here soon, Dean," said Sam, adjusting Dean so he could get a look at his back. He frowned when he saw where the wound was. "It's in the same place that guy shot you. But... But how is it bleeding?"

Dean struggled to lift his head up to look at Sam. "M-Maybe... i-it's punishment... for n-not taking roles... or... or some cr-crap," he suggested weakly. He moaned in pain again, burying his face against Sam's shoulder. "God... it h..hurts."

"Shh. I know, Dean. But you have to stay awake, okay?"

Dean turned slightly to look in the direction they came from. "H-How's my... car?"

"The car?" asked Sam, raising his eyebrows. "You're seriously hurt, and you're worried about the car?"

Dean grinned slightly at his brother. "She's... f-family. I-I need..." He struggled weakly against Sam.

"Dean, stay still. Are you insane?"

"I need... t-to.. to b-be with her," Dean told him, tears filling his eyes.

"Okay. I'll carry you," said Sam, adjusting his hold, so he was holding Dean just under the injured area. "I've got you." He slipped his other arm under Dean's knees, and stood up.

"AAAAHHH! S-SONOFABITCH!" screamed Dean, throwing his head back. He tried breathing through the pain, and glared at his brother. "P-Put.. me d-down."

Sam started walking with his brother in his arms. "No way, Dean. You're too hurt. You probably couldn't even stand right now."

"O-Oh, I co-could stand. And.. I'll k-kick... your a-ass," Dean whispered. He couldn't hold his head up anymore, so he rested it against Sam's shoulder, trying to ignore the fact that his little brother was carrying him. "I-I'll.. do it... la-later."

Sam smiled, and shook his head fondly. He was surprised at how easy it was to carry Dean; he was a lot lighter than he thought he would be. "We're almost there," he whispered, looking down to see Dean staring at the sky. "How are you doing?"

"H-How do... you think I'm... I'm doing? I'm a-awesome."

"Of course you are." He made it to the Impala, and gently lowered himself so he was kneeling on the ground. "There we go," he whispered, holding Dean without hurting him, making sure he kept pressure on the wound.

Dean grinned, and reached out with a trembling hand to touch the black car. "H-Hey ba-baby... H-Home," he whispered to himself, running his hand over the back door.

Sam heard what Dean said, and put his hand on the side of Dean's face to look at him. "Hey," he whispered, not liking the look in Dean's eyes. "Don't even think about it, Dean. Stay with me, okay?"

Dean blinked slowly, looking up at his little brother. "I-I'm... not go-going any...where." He frowned slightly. "H-Hey Sam... do you think i-if I died... I'd s-still go... back down t-there?" he asked in fear.

"You're not going to die, Dean. And I don't think you would go back... You don't deserve to go back there. Can we talk about something else? I really don't want to talk about you dying right now... because it's not going to happen."

"W-What shall... we... we t-talk about t-then? F-favourite boy...bands? Hot g-girls? Ooh, l-lets talk... about h-hot girls." A movement to the side caught his eye. "Hey... did y-you see... that?"

Sam turned slightly to try and see what his brother was talking about. "Dean, there's nothing there. What are you looking at?"

Dean shook his head, and turned back to Sam. "I... Guess i-if only... I s-saw it... th-that's a b-bad thing, huh?" he asked, frowning.

Sam's eyes widened as he looked back to where his brother was looking. He still couldn't see anything. "Don't look anywhere else, okay? Just look at me."

"D-Do I h-have to?" he whined, and tensed in Sam's arms when a pain shot up his back. "Son... Sonofabitch."

"Hey hey. Take it easy, Dean. Just stay awake." Sam looked around, and still saw no sign of the ambulance. "What the hell are they doing? Making the ambulance? I could have carried you there by now."

"It's o-only been... five m-minutes, S-Sammy."

"Yeah well... they should be quicker." Sam shrugged, and looked down at his brother. "I know... We could play I spy."

"What?"

"I spy. It'll keep you awake, and it's something to do. I'll start. I spy with my little eye something beginning with... T."

Dean stared at Sam for a minute. "Er... Tall... we-weird guy? T-Total f...freak?"

"No, you jerk. It's over there," he said, pointing.

Dean looked at where the finger was pointing, and sighed. "T-Tree?"

"Yeah. Your go."

"T-This.. is rid-ridiculous. I spy... som-something beginning with... R."

Sam looked around with a confused expression. "R? Dean, what are you..." Then it hit him. "Road?"

"Yeah. N-Nothing... much a-around, S-Sam."

"Well, there's not much else to do, is there? Okay, I spy.. blah blah... something beginning with C."

"B-Blah blah?" said Dean in amusement. "C? Complete... weirdo? College ge-geek?" He grimaced in pain, his back felt like it was on fire.

"Hold on, Dean. You're going to be alright," said Sam, putting his hand on the side of Dean's face. He lifted his other hand slightly to get a look at Dean's back. Sam's breath caught, and he stopped breathing for a few seconds when he saw the shirt was blood-soaked. "Oh god." He pulled away slightly to look down at Dean. "It's not that bad."

Dean closed his eyes for a second. He had heard that before. "L-Liar," he whispered, weakly laying his forehead against Sam's shoulder.

"I mean it Dean," whispered Sam, pulling Dean into a hug, closing his own eyes against the tears. "You'll be alright. That's not going to happen, you're not going to die... I won't let you. You hear me?"

Dean nodded against Sam's shoulder. He didn't know whether to tell Sam he couldn't feel his legs. "Y-You better... not tell any-anybody a-about... this," he whispered weakly, relaxing into his brother's embrace.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," said Sam as he pushed harder against the still bleeding wound, trying to ignore Dean's moans of pain.

The brothers sighed in relief when they heard the sounds of the sirens.

"Finally."


	2. Hospital

The paramedics took Dean from his brother's arms, and got him ready for the ambulance. An oxygen mask was placed over the older Winchesters face to help with his shallow breathing.

"Can I come with him?" asked Sam, standing beside them.

"As long as you stay out of our way, and let us do our job."

Sam nodded, and climbed in beside Dean. "How are you doing?" he asked, taking Dean's hand.

Dean blinked slowly, raising his free hand to shakily give Sam a thumbs up.

"You'll be okay," the paramedic told him. "We're going to take care of you, but we need you to try and stay awake, okay?"

Dean nodded, making Sam smile. "That's it. Just don't close your eyes, or I'll kick your ass."

"You c'n try... 'Pala?" he whispered weakly, taking the mask away for a second.

"Your car will be fine, Dean," Sam told him, squeezing his hand gently. "Don't worry about that right now."

Dean closed his eyes for a second, wincing in pain. "Son...B-Bitch," he gasped out, tensing on the stretcher.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy, Dean. Open your eyes," said Sam in an urgent voice. "Dean, come on."

After several seconds, Dean opened his eyes, and looked at Sam. He tried to ignore the paramedic, and concentrated on Sam and staying awake.

Sam gasped when the alarms went off, and Dean's eyes rolled back. "NO! Dean, come on. Don't do this. Wake up." He shook Dean, but was pulled backwards by the paramedic as he began working on his injured brother.

"HURRY UP! WE'RE LOSING HIM!" the paramedic yelled over his shoulder. The ambulance immediately sped up.

Sam sat with his hands together, looking almost like he was praying. "Please let him be okay. Please."

* * *

At the hospital, Sam sat staring at Dean's blood on his clothes and his hands, wondering how much blood Dean could have left in his body if he left this much on Sam. He had already called Bobby, who was going to remove the weapons from the Impala, then join him at the hospital.

After over three hours, a Doctor came into the waiting area asking for the family of Dean Singer. Sam immediately stood. "I'm his brother, Sam. Is he alright? Can I see him?"

The Doctor sighed, and led him into a room. "I'm Dr Richards. Your brother's hanging in there, but he's in serious condition. He lost a dangerous amount of blood, but we've given him a transfusion to help with that. Right now, he's on a ventilator since he's not breathing too good on his own." Dr Richards paused for Sam to take in the news. "We're not going to know how much damage was done until he wakes up. Since the injury is in his back, there's a chance of paralysis as the bullet clipped his spine, but we'll wait until he wakes up. But we managed to remove the bullet, any idea how it got there?"

'He got shot obviously,' thought Sam, but didn't say. "No. We.. we were going to a gas station because the car... broke down. Then Dean just..." He shook his head, blinking rapidly to stop the tears. "He fell to his knees in pain, I don't know what happened."

Dr Richards nodded, he had no reason to doubt the young man's story. "Since it was a gunshot wound, we had no choice but to call the police. They'll want to talk to you when they get here."

"O-Okay. But... but can I see him? I need to see my brother."

"Of course. We're getting him situated into a room in the ICU. A nurse will come for you once we get him ready." The doctor put his hand gently on Sam's shoulder. "Don't worry son. We'll take good care of your brother."

Sam nodded, and went back to the waiting area to wait for the nurse.

* * *

"Mr Singer?" said a young nurse walking into the room.

Sam stood. "That's me. How is he?" he asked as the two started walking.

"There's been no change in his condition, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We had to prop him up slightly to take pressure off his back." The nurse stopped at the door, and turned back to him. "I'll leave you to see him. Press the call button if his condition changes, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Sam took a deep breath, and opened the door slowly. "Oh god," he gasped when he saw his larger than life big brother laying deathly still on the bed, surrounded by machinery.

Sam looked down at Dean's too pale face, noticing the freckles standing out starkly like stars in a night sky. He walked slowly to Dean's bedside, and sat down in the chair that had been placed there. "Hey Dean. Bobby's going to be here soon, you just need to rest and get better okay?" he said, gripping the limp hand in both of his.

Sam sighed, and wiped his eyes, which were swimming with tears. "Please be okay, Dean," he whispered. There was a knock at the door, making him jump. "Y-Yeah?"

"Mr Singer?" asked a nurse, standing at the door. "There's someone here who says he's your uncle, we need you to confirm who he is. Come with me for a second."

Sam ran his fingers through Dean's hair. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Okay?" He followed the nurse to where Bobby was standing, and greeted the older man with a relieved smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Don't mention it. How is he?" asked Bobby, looking worried.

"He lost a lot of blood, and he's still unconscious and on a ventilator. But Dean's a fighter so..."

"Yeah, he's probably the most stubborn guy I know," said Bobby with a fond expression. "Can we see him now?"

Sam looked at the nurse, and nodded. "Yeah. Come on," he said, before leading Bobby to Dean's room.

As he entered the room, Bobby gasped at the sight of the unconscious young man on the bed. Sam put his hand on his shoulder, and led him over to Dean's bed. "I know. No matter how many times Dean's in a hospital, it never gets any easier."

Bobby reached a hand out, and stroked Dean's hair like Sam had done a few minutes ago. "Hang in there son. Me and yer brother will be right here," he whispered, before turning to Sam. "Ya better not tell him I did that, or I'll beat ya around the head with one of my books."

Sam laughed, and shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't."

"By the way, I got the weapons out of the trunk. As soon as I can, I'll take the Impala to my place."

"Dean will be glad to hear that. The car's the main thing he's been bothered about," Sam told him, smiling at his unconscious brother.

"Why doesn't that surprise me."

There was another knock at the door, and both men turned to see the same nurse come back in. "The police are here to see you," she said to Sam.

Sam nodded, and looked at Bobby. "Will you stay here and look after him?"

"Of course. Just go do what ya need to," Bobby told him, sitting in the empty chair.

Sam smiled at the man who was like a father to them, and went down the hall to talk to the police.

"Hey kid. Yer going to be alright, I know ya will." Bobby took a deep breath, and placed a hand on top of Dean's limp one. If anyone asked him about it, he would deny it.

"Me and Sam will be right here until ya decide to wake up," he said, as he ran his free hand through his boy's hair. "If ya get tired of yer beauty sleep, let us know."

The only reply he received was the sound of the ventilator.

"We'll be right here for ya."

**TBC**


	3. Cas

"I'm going to get a coffee, Sam. Do ya want one or a sandwich?"

"No thanks," answered Sam, not looking away from his brother.

"Sam, ya have to eat. Dean's been here three days already, and ya haven't really eaten much."

"Fine. I'll have a sandwich," said Sam with an eye-roll. When Bobby left, he leaned forward and took Dean's hand. "Please wake up soon." He sat staring at him until a slight movement at the door caught his eye. Turning to look, he jumped in surprise when he saw Castiel standing at the door, watching Dean. "What's wrong?"

"Is he alright?" he asked, walking closer to the bed.

"He's doing better. The doctor said he could come off the ventilator in a couple of days. Why are you here? Is something wrong? We don't have to move him, do we? Is something..."

"No. I heard Dean was here. I wanted to see if he was okay." The angel looked nervous, which made Sam smile.

"That's nice. You can come closer if you want, I won't bite." Sam patted the empty seat Bobby had vacated.

Castiel nodded, and sat in the chair beside Sam. "What happened?"

"The gunshot wound paid a visit." At Castiel's confused expression, Sam explained what had happened.

After Sam's explanation, Castiel watched Dean worriedly. "But he is alright?"

"Yeah. He's going to be fine... hopefully. Does anybody else know Dean's here?"

"Not that I know of. I made sure nobody tracked me."

Sam sighed in relief. "Good. Can you heal him?" he asked hopefully.

"You know I cannot, Sam," answered Castiel with an apologetic expression. "I would if I could."

Sam looked disappointed, and leaned forward slightly. "Hey Dean. I'm going out for a minute, okay? I'll be back soon." He looked back at Castiel. "I'm going to the bathroom. You can talk to him if you want."

"But he's not awake. How can I talk to him?"

"People say those who are unconscious can still hear what's said to them. I talk to him all the time."

"He's not... How can he hear? He cannot talk back with that thing in his mouth. Why talk to him if he cannot talk back?" asked the angel, looking at the bed-ridden hunter. "Dean always talks back."

Sam had to laugh at that. "Yeah, he does. But if you talk to him, he might be able to hear you. He's your friend, let him know you're here," he said, before walking over to the little bathroom.

When Sam left, Castiel moved closer to the bed. "Er... Dean? It's Castiel... Sam said you can hear me. I hope you heal okay."

"That's it?" asked Bobby, walking into the room with coffee and sandwiches. "Not very talkative, are ya?"

Castiel turned to Bobby. "I talk. I am talking now."

Bobby chuckled, placing the food and drink on the little bedside table. "I know that. I didn't say ya didn't talk at all, I said ya don't talk much."

The angel nodded, and stood from the chair. "I apologise for taking your chair," he said, walking around to stand on the other side of the bed.

"It's alright. I'm not going to attack ya for sitting in a chair," said Bobby, sitting down.

Sam walked back into the room, and saw the two standing at each side of the bed. "Is everything okay?" he asked, taking his seat beside his brother. "Hey. I'm back, Dean."

Castiel watched the brothers. "How do you know if he hears you? It's odd seeing him laying there. Dean always moves."

"If we talk to him, he'll know we're here for him. Even if Dean's not awake, he'll know I'm here. He always does," Sam told him, taking Dean's hand again.

"Will he know I am here? And Bobby?"

"If you talk to him, I'm sure he'll know you're here." Sam looked down at Dean. "He asks a lot of questions, doesn't he?"

"If Dean was awake, I'm sure he'd say yer like the Riddler from Batman," said Bobby with a laugh.

"A Bat man? How can somebody be a man and a bat?"

"He's not an actual bat. He's a man... a superhero really." Sam saw Castiel looking confused once again. "I think Dean will be able to explain it better than me. Ask him when he wakes up. He'll probably give you a lecture about him, and make you watch the movies."

"Angels do not watch TV. Why would anybody watch a movie about a man who thinks he is a bat?"

"Oh my god," Bobby whispered to himself. "He doesn't actually think he's a bat. He doesn't hang upside-down in a cave. He saves people, and drives a cool car."

Castiel nodded. "Like Dean?" he asked, looking down at the man in question.

"If Dean heard you refer to him as Batman, he'll be your best friend for life," said Sam.

Castiel heard a strange noise, and looked down at Dean, frowning. "I think I heard him make a noise."

"Dean?" asked Sam, quickly leaning forward. "What kind of noise?"

The angel shrugged. "Er... Mmmmm. I think that kind of noise."

"Are ya sure?" asked Bobby, getting closer to the bed. "If he moaned, he could be waking up. Hey Dean? Can ya hear us, son?"

The two men and the angel leaned forward, waiting anxiously to see if the hunter was waking up.

"Dean if you can hear me, squeeze my hand," said Sam, running his other hand through Dean's hair. He waited for a minute, but was rewarded with a slight squeeze. "He squeezed my hand," he told the other two excitedly.

Dean's green eyes fluttered open slightly. He frowned when he felt something down his throat, making it hard for him to breathe. He tried to talk, but the thing in his mouth made it feel as if he was suffocating, making him panic.

"GET HELP! HE'S CHOKING!" yelled Sam, trying to calm his brother down.

Bobby nodded, and ran to get help.

The doctor and two nurses came rushing into the room, with Bobby following behind.

"Help him. He's waking up," Sam told them, trying to keep Dean calm.

"Alright. Stand back." Dr Richards stood beside the bed and addressed the injured young man. "Okay Dean. I need you to try and stay calm, okay? We're going to remove the tube, but we need you to stay calm."

Castiel stepped back from the bed, looking slightly panicked. "Is he alright?" he asked Sam, who came to stand beside him. "What's wrong with him? He's okay, isn't he?"

Sam put his hand on the angel's shoulder. "He's awake, and he's trying to breathe on his own, but he can't with the tube down his throat. Don't worry," he said, even though he was worrying himself.

Cas turned huge blue eyes to Sam. "I apologise. I have not seen Dean like that before. It is..."

"Scary?" Sam suggested. "I know. But he's waking up. The doctor is going to help him." The two men and the angel watched the doctor tell Dean they were going to remove the tube in a few minutes.

Dean wasn't listening, he was searching the room, looking panicked.

"Hey, hey Dean. It's alright. Try to stay calm. Me, Bobby and Castiel are right here. Just do what Dr Richards tells you, okay?"

When Dean found his brother, the panicked expression was replaced with a relieved one.

Sam smiled when Dean nodded. "That's my boy." He took a deep breath, and bit his lip as he watched one of the nurses get an oxygen mask ready for when Dean came off the ventilator.

"Okay Dean, we're ready. When I tell you to, you need to use all your strength, and blow out. Can you do that?"

Dean nodded again since he couldn't speak.

Castiel gasped when he saw the tube being removed from Dean's mouth, and he started coughing. The nurse closest to Dean put the oxygen mask over the hunters face. "Dean? Are you alright?" asked the angel.

Dean slowly turned to Castiel, and smiled weakly. "Yeah," he said in a raspy voice.

Dr Richards tried to give Dean some medication to help with the pain, but Dean of course tried to refuse.

Bobby frowned, and stepped forward. "Ya got shot, idjit. Ya need something to help with the pain, so take it. Or I'll give it to ya myself."

Castiel's eyes widened. "You cannot do that, he is injured. You do not have..." He stopped when Sam put his hand back on his shoulder.

"It's okay. He's trying to get Dean to stop being so stubborn, and let the doctor help him," Sam told the protective angel.

Dean finally gave in, and accepted the meds.

Dr Richards turned to the three of them. "He'll be asleep in a few minutes. But he did very well when he came off the vent. We'll keep the mask on for a bit, and see how he goes with that. When he wakes, try and keep him from moving." He turned to Castiel. "I've not seen you before. Are you a friend of Dean's?"

"Yes. My name is Castiel, I am an ang..." Cas stopped when Sam nudged him. "Friend of Dean," he corrected himself.

"He's like family," Sam told him. "He can stay, right? Castiel doesn't see his family much, Dean is the closest thing he has."

Dr Richard sighed, and looked at the angel. "We don't usually allow non-family members in ICU, but we'll make an exception."

"Does that mean I can stay?" asked the confused angel, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah. You can stay," Sam told him, before going to sit with Dean.

Before the doctor left, he turned back to the youngest Winchester. "When the police were here before, they asked me to let them know when he regained consciousness, so they can talk to him. Is that okay?"

Sam frowned, and took Dean's hand. "I've already spoken to them. Why does my brother have to?"

"He needs to give a statement. I'll let you know when they get here."

"I'm not waking him up, so they'll have to wait until he wakes up. He needs to rest."

"I understand that, Sam. I'll be back to check on Dean later." The doctor and remaining nurses left the room.

"Yeah. Can't wait," whispered Bobby sarcastically.

Castiel looked at Bobby. "You cannot wait for what? The doctor to come back? Shall I go get him for you?" he asked, turning to the door.

Bobby chuckled. "No. I was being sarcastic. I'm surprised yer not used to it by now, hanging around with Dean. He's got to be the most sarcastic person I know," he said with a fond look at the sleeping Winchester.

"So, sarcasm is something you do not actually mean?" asked Castiel, standing beside the bed.

Sam and Bobby looked at each other. They weren't really sure how to explain sarcasm. Usually when someone didn't know what it meant and they were asked to describe it, they usually pointed at Dean.

"You know when it's raining outside? And someone... Usually Dean... would say 'nice weather'? That's sarcastic."

Castiel nodded, looking down at the man in the bed. "I miss Dean."

"Me too. But he'll be awake soon."

* * *

A few hours later, Dean woke up. He was still in a lot of pain, so the nurses gave him something to help. He now needed a little oxygen, so he had a cannula in his nose to help.

Dean frowned when he tried to move his legs, but couldn't feel them. He was about to mention it, when two officers came into his room. "Hello Mr Singer. It's good to see you awake."

Dean turned to Sam with raised eyebrows. "Who the hell... is he?"

"He is a policeman, Dean," Castiel told him.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah... Thanks Cas," he said, wincing in pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm officer Keaton. This is Price. We've come to talk to you about the shooting." Keaton looked at the other men in the room. "Can we talk..."

Sam glared at the two officers. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Neither am I," said Bobby.

Dean nodded, blinking heavily. "They can stay. I can talk in-front of them."

Cas looked between the other men in the room. "I also would like to stay."

"Okay." Keaton cleared his throat, and looked through a little notebook. "Your brother Sam told us you were walking to a gas station when you were shot, and didn't see what happened. Do you have any idea how you got shot?"

Dean looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember. 'Oh crap,' thought Sam when he saw Dean's eyes were slightly glazed in his too pale face. He knew what Dean was like on meds, and knew what was coming.

"Sure. Me and my b-brother had to... play different TV roles. The trickster transferred us to TV land. He's... a supernatural being. But he's really..." Dean trailed off.

Bobby, Sam and Castiel were stood staring at each other. "Er... Dean?"

"Be quiet Sam. I'm talking. We were doctors in a hospital, and this guy asked us to help his wife... But I said it wasn't real, so when we walked away... he kinda shot me." Dean sighed, and tried to move to relieve the pain in his back.

The two officers looked at each other for a minute.

Dean continued, "Well... Anyway... After awhile Cas came in, and tried to get us out... He's an angel. He got me out of hell. He's an angel, but he wears a trench coat." He giggled slightly. Actually giggled.

Sam and Bobby turned to look at Castiel, who stared back with wide blue eyes. The poor angel looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Dean... You have to... er..." Castiel leaned forward slightly over the bed.

Dean's face lit up into a grin. "Hey Cas." He grabbed Castiel's arm, and turned to the officers. "This is Cas... The angel I told you about."

Keaton looked at his partner again, then turned back to Dean. "He's an angel?"

Cas swallowed nervously. "Yes, it's Cas... I am your friend... But..." He turned to look at Sam and Bobby. He didn't seem to be able to deny what he was, so they decided to help the poor guy out.

Sam sat on the edge of the bed. "He's your friend... But he's not an angel. You must've been dreaming again, huh?" He ruffled Dean's hair, and tried to tell him to shut up with a look.

Dean looked confused. "Yeah he is," he said, turning to look at Castiel again. "Hey Cas. Show them your wings... He has biiiiig wings." He held out his hands wide, almost hitting Cas and Sam in the face. He yawned suddenly and started blinking rapidly. "Damn, I'm tired."

Price nodded at his partner. "Uh... It was nice meeting you. But we'll come back in a few days when you're feeling better." He smiled, and the two left the room.

Bobby and Sam let out sighs of relief. "That was close."

"Ugh," moaned Dean, throwing his head back against the pillow. "My back is killing me."

Sam frowned, and grabbed Dean's hand. "Don't say that."

Dean's breathing hitched, his face scrunching up in pain. "Hey, where did those guys go?" he asked, looking over at the door.

"They left, so you can get some rest." Sam hoped the next time they came, Dean hadn't just been given painkillers. He wasn't himself when he was medicated.

Dean groaned, and shifted slightly. "D-Damn." He frowned when he remembered what he was going to say before he was interrupted, he turned to look up at Sam.

"Hey Sam? Why can't I feel my legs?"

**TBC**


	4. Paralysed

Sam's breath caught when Dean told him he couldn't feel his legs. "Y-You... You..." He couldn't say the words.

"Can you feel this?" asked Castiel, laying his hand gently on the hunters left leg.

"What part of 'I can't feel my legs' do you not understand?" asked Dean, glaring at the angel.

Castiel pulled his hand away, looking hurt. "I apologise."

"I'll get the doctor," said Sam, pressing the call button.

When the doctor came in, Sam looked worriedly at him. "Dean says he can't feel his legs."

The doctor nodded, and walked over to the bed. "This is what I was worried about. Hey Dean... I haven't explained your condition to you properly, but the bullet clipped your spine  and may have caused some damage when it entered your back,  and there is severe swelling around the injured area.  During surgery, we removed some bone fragments, we're pretty sure we got them all, but it was hard to see due to the amount of swelling. We don't know if  the swelling  is the cause of the paralysis, or if the spine was seriously damaged."

Sam stepped closer to the bed, and put his hand on Dean's shoulder comfortingly.

"We'll wait until the swelling goes down, and get you in for more x-rays. Hopefully, the paralysis won't be permanent, we'll keep our fingers crossed. But you're very lucky... Just a couple of millimetres to the left, and the bullet would have gone right through the cord."

Dean glared at him. "Yeah. I'm very lucky," he said sarcastically, blinking away the tears that had suddenly formed.

Sam noticed that Dean was struggling to keep his emotions in check and politely asked the doctor to give them some time alone. 

"Very well. If you need anything, press the button. I'll leave you all alone, now. I'll see you later."

Sam squeezed Dean's shoulder gently. "Are you okay, Dean?"

"Yeah. Fine. I might not walk again, life's just great."

Castiel spoke up. "The doctor said it may not be permanent. You may recover."

"Yeah right. Winchester luck is always bad luck. I know it's permanent. Why couldn't he have shot me in the head, and get it over with."

"Hey, don't you ever say that again, Dean," said Sam, wiping his face angrily when tears filled his eyes. "Even if you can't walk, you can still live a full life."

"Oh yeah. What about the whole apocalypse crap? How can I stop it if I'm stuck in a wheelchair?"

"I do not think my Father would want you out of hell, just to do this to you. I have faith you will get better, Dean," said Castiel, hoping to cheer his friend up.

"Well, you have a lot more faith than I do."

Bobby looked down at the young man, who was like a son to him. "Ya can't keep thinking like that, Dean. Yer the most stubborn person I know. I wouldn't be surprised if ya ended up walking out of here by the end of the week."

"I hope you're right, Bobby."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right. Now stop talking like it's the end of yer life. We know yer going to get better. Ya just have to believe it too."

"He's right, Dean. I haven't known you as long as Sam and Bobby. But I have grown to know you well. I know you can be very stubborn, and prove people wrong. You have to prove the doctor wrong, and show him what Dean Winchester can do," Castiel told him with a serious expression.

Dean raised his eyebrows, looking surprised. "You all believe in me?"

"Of course we do. You're the strongest person any of us know."

"And most stubborn," Bobby added.

"YOU'RE BATMAN!" Castiel exclaimed suddenly.

Dean stared at the angel. "Okay, that was random."

A slight blush coloured Castiel's cheeks. "Sorry. Sam and Bobby told me about the hero you like, who saves people and drives a black car. Y-You... You're like Batman."

"I never thought I'd hear an angel talking about Batman," said Dean with a little smile.

"Sam and Bobby said you would tell me more about the Bat man. I wish to know about the person you admire."

Dean tried not to laugh at how shy and nervous the angel seemed to be. "Sure. Well..."

"Oh god. Here we go." Sam sat back in his chair, and got ready for the conversation, knowing they would be there for awhile.

Dean shifted to take the pressure of his back. He was trying to ignore the pain, which was finally going thanks to the meds he had earlier.

Castiel sat on the edge of the bed. "Does he think he's a Bat?"

"No. It's to hide his identity. His real name's Bruce Wayne. He saves the people of Gotham city from enemies like the Riddler and the Joker. He has a butler named Alfred... Bobby looks a little like him when he wears a suit."

Bobby mock-glared at the bed-ridden hunter. "Well, ya better not expect me to act like a butler. Get off yer ass, and get it yerself," he said, smiling. "I know ya can do it."

"Thanks Bobby." Dean turned back to Castiel. "Batman sometimes has a sidekick called Robin... He's kinda gay. He reminds me of Sam," he said, pointing his thumb at his brother.

"Hey. Can you stop insulting us all?"

"Does Robin kiss boys?" asked the angel innocently.

Dean, Sam and Bobby had to laugh. "I don't know. Never asked him, he just... I don't know. Everyone seems to think he's gay. Batman's not gay. He has the second coolest car ever."

"Your car is the first one?"

"Of course she is. There's no car more beautiful than my baby." Dean tried to keep talking, he didn't want to think about his useless legs. He shifted again, making a sharp pain shoot up his back. "Ugh," he moaned in agony.

Sam shot up. "Are you alright?" he asked, plumping Dean's pillows. "Why don't you get a bit of rest? You and Castiel can talk about Batman tomorrow."

Castiel had another question. "If you're Batman, Sam's Robin and Bobby's like Alfred. Which hero am I like?"

"He's not exactly a hero... But with all the questions you kinda remind me of the Riddler. But one of the good guys."

Bobby chuckled. "See? Told ya he would say yer like the Riddler."

"Oh. Could I watch one with you sometime? I would like to know more about the people you speak of."

Dean closed his eyes for several seconds, he was getting tired again. "Sure. Sam's not a big Batman fan, so it'd be nice to watch Batman with someone. Even if it's an angel." His face scrunched up in pain once again when it felt as if someone was literally stabbing him in the back. "Sonofabitch."

Cas blinked in surprise. "Me?"

Sam pressed the button to get a nurse in. "It's okay. He's not calling you a sonofabitch. He says it when he's in pain... Or when he's pissed off... Or when Someone annoys him. Sonofabitch is also what he calls people he doesn't like."

Castiel hated seeing Dean in pain. "Where is the nurse?" he asked, turning to the door. "I'll go get one."

Bobby and Sam stared as the angel went out to search for a nurse.

"HEY! I NEED A NURSE IN HERE!" Castiel called, walking down the corridor.

"Will you keep the noise down?" asked a nurse, walking over to talk to him. "This is a hospital."

Castiel's head tilted slightly to the side. "I know where I am. My friend is in pain, he needs help."

The nurse took one look at Castiel's worried blue eyes, and nodded. "Okay. But stop yelling, okay?" she said as the two walked back to Dean's room.

"I did not yell, I raised my voice a little," Castiel told her, before walking into Dean's room. "I have a nurse... she told me off."

Dean smiled at the expression on Castiel's face as the nurse gave him some medication. He was still looking at Cas when his eyes slid shut and his body relaxed.

Castiel watched Dean sleeping. "He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

"Of course he is. He's Batman, remember. We'll be there for him. That's all he needs, he'll do the rest," he said, taking hold of Dean's hand.

"He'll be back to being his old self again in no time."

"I'll help too," the angel said, watching his friend sleep.

**TBC**


	5. Wheelchair

"Hey, Dean. The nurse is going to bring a wheelchair in, so you can get out of your bed for awhile," Sam told his brother, walking into the room. "Rick said it may do you some good." Rick was a physical therapist who had come by in the past few days, to try and help Dean. "Maybe we can go for a little walk, huh?"

Dean looked at him, and shrugged. "Whatever."

Sam, Bobby and Cas looked at each other. The last few days, Dean had not shown much interest in anything, the three of them were worried about him.

"We could take you outside to get some air," suggested Castiel.

"He might not be able to sit that long. It could be painful for him."

Dean looked at them angrily. "Hey, HE is right here you know," he said, waving at them to prove it.

"Hey," Castiel waved back.

Dean blinked in surprise, then started laughing. "Dude, you..." He trailed off and became serious when a nurse came in with a chair.

"Are you ready? Rick's running a bit late, but he'll be by shortly. Ready to get out of that bed?"

Dean looked down at his hands. "I don't know. It'll probably be weird sitting in a chair without feeling anything below my waist. What if it's weird?"

Castiel's lips twitched. "Well, you  **are**  weird, Dean. So you will be okay."

"You-" Dean looked at Cas with wide eyes. "Did you just make a joke? Sam, Bobby... Cas just made a joke." He looked at the two men with a shocked expression. "Wow," he whispered, turning back to the angel, who was usually serious.

Sam and Bobby had to laugh. "He's probably been hanging around you too long," said the younger Winchester.

The angel lowered his head, a slight blush covering his cheeks. "I apologise."

"You don't have to. I'm surprised, that's all. I'm not used to you making a joke. Maybe we should call the newspaper or something."

Cas gave a tiny smile in return. "Are you getting in the chair?" he asked, looking down at his friend.

"How am I supposed to do that? She's at the other side of the room. There's no space by the bed, and there is no way in hell I'm crawling. I'd rather stay here."

"You are getting out of this bed, Dean." Castiel threw the blanket from the bed, and put his hands carefully under Dean's knees and behind his back. Being very careful of his injured back, he lifted Dean effortlessly, and walked over to the nurse.

"Cas, what the hell? Put me down." Dean waved at Sam and Bobby, who were both staring at the angel. "Sam, a little help. I'm getting manhandled by a frigging angel." He moaned in pain when Castiel lowered him into the chair. "Sonofabitch," he whispered, breathing through the pain.

Sam rushed over to Dean, and knelt in-front of him. "Are you alright?"

After a minute, Dean raised his head. "Oh super. I just got carried by..." his eyes widened when he remembered the nurse behind him. "Did I say Cas was an angel out loud?" he whispered.

"Yeah. But I don't think she noticed," Sam told him, before looking at the nurse. "Can you leave us alone for a minute? Dean hates being like this in-front of people. I'll let you know if he needs anything."

The nurse nodded reluctantly. "Rick will be here in a couple of minutes," she told them, before leaving them on their own.

Castiel knelt beside Sam. "Is that better, Dean? Are you happy to be out of the bed?"

"Oh yeah, I'm ecstatic. I always wanted to visit the other side of the room," he said sarcastically. "You didn't have to carry me."

"But how else would you have gotten here? You cannot stay in a bed all of your life. I was only trying to help. You're my friend, Dean." The angel looked at the hunter with a hurt expression.

"I know that, but..." he trailed off when a tall man entered the room.

"Hello Dean. I see you have got into the chair," said Rick with a friendly smile.

"Wow. You should be a detective," said Dean with an eye roll. He winced when a shooting pain travelled up his back.

"That was sarcasm," Castiel nodded. He looked at the others, who were staring at him again.

Dean bit his lip, trying not to smile. "Dude, you don't have to tell us every single time you get when I'm sarcastic." He shifted uncomfortably. "Ugh. Can I get back in bed yet? It hurts a little," he admitted.

Sam frowned worriedly, and turned to look at the other men in the room. "Maybe we'll get him in a chair again after he's had his meds," he said, knowing the pain had to be bad for Dean to complain.

Castiel reached over with outstretched arms, but Dean held up a hand in warning.

"Don't even think about it."

Sam took the handles, and wheeled Dean as close to the bed as he could. He carefully wrapped his arms around his brother and lifted him out of the chair and into the bed. When he looked down at Dean, he saw his eyes were closed, a single tear escaping down his cheek.

"It's alright," he said, as he immediately pressed the call button. "They'll be here in a minute, Dean."

Castiel and Bobby stood nearby with worried expressions. Rick turned and left them alone, knowing Dean would need rest.

An older nurse, who Dean didn't like, came into the room and gave Dean some painkillers. As the nurse checked him over, he started moaning in pain. "Ugh."

"You're supposed to help him, not make him hurt more," said Sam, glaring hatefully at her, before gently taking Dean's hand in his.

The nurse took no notice, and continued checking her patient, ignoring each time he winced or moaned when the pain became too much. Sam was about to say something else when Castiel stepped forward. "You are hurting my friend," he told her, and stopped as he stared at her. "Are you the one Dean calls a demon?"

The nurse stared at Castiel. Dean and Bobby burst out laughing, Sam tried not to. Only Castiel could come straight out with it.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a good nurse. Now if you'll excuse me," she said, before walking back out of the room, glaring at Cas.

Castiel frowned when he noticed the others were looking at him. "What? I only asked her if she was the one Dean didn't like."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to blurt it out right in-front of her. But she's not actually a demon, she just... well there must be something weird about her. She hurts more than she helps," Dean told him.

"Are you sure we don't need to do an exorcism? She did not look very friendly."

Dean smiled at him with a fond expression. "Yeah. That would go down well. I think we'd know if she was an actual demon, Sam's already said Christo, but it didn't have any effect."

"I still don't like her."

"Neither do we. Do you really think a demon could get anywhere near Dean with us three around?" Sam asked him.

Bobby chuckled. "With ya both around, I'm surprised anyone can get near Dean."

Sam blushed, and looked at the angel. "We're not that bad."

"Yeah right," came a weak voice. The two men and angel looked down at the bed-ridden hunter. "The first day Rick came, you threatened to shoot him."

"That wasn't my fault," the younger Winchester defended himself.

"Whose fault was it? Mine? Every new person that comes into the room, you stand and glare at them." Dean sighed, and looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey guys, can you leave us alone for a minute?" Sam asked the other two, frowning worriedly at Dean.

"What's wrong?" asked Castiel, looking between the two brothers.

"I want to talk to Dean. Just ten minutes."

Bobby nodded at Cas. "Come on. Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Why? I do not need to eat," the angel told him, but he walked out with him anyway.

When they were alone, Sam looked down at Dean again. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm always fine," answered Dean, staring at his hands.

"You're not, Dean. Talk to me."

Dean sighed again. "I don't want to be stuck in a chair my whole life, Sam. I-I can't."

Sam sat on the edge of the bed, and took Dean's hand in both of his. "You won't be. You're going to get better, I know you are. You're the most stubborn person I know. If anyone can beat this... it's you."

Tears swam in Dean's eyes. "You really think I can do it?" he asked, blinking rapidly, refusing to let the tears fall.

"Of course I do. You're Dean Winchester, you can do anything. Me, Bobby and Castiel will be right here with you every step of the way," Sam told him, smiling. "You've never backed down from a fight, and I know you can win this one. I bet in a few weeks, you'll be walking out of here."

"Hope you're right, Sam."

"Of course I am. I know you better than anyone. And I believe you can do this. Even if you can't... I'm not going anywhere."

Dean wiped his tears, and cleared his throat. "Right, the moments over. I'm tired. I need rest if I'm going to kick this things ass."

Sam laughed. "That's more like it. Remember, Batman never gives up."

"Neither does Dean Winchester. I'll be back kicking demon ass before you know it," said Dean, smirking slightly.

"That's the Dean we all know and love. Get some rest. We'll be right here when you wake up."

Just before Dean closed his eyes, Castiel and Bobby came back into the room. "I do not think the demon nurse likes me."

Bobby chuckled. "Ya think? When we walked passed her, I thought she was going to chase ya with a bedpan or something. Ya should've seen the look she gave him."

Cas nodded. "She looked evil."

"Can we stop talking about the frigging nurse?" asked Dean, shifting slightly.

"Sorry, Dean."

The three of them kept watch over Dean as he finally fell asleep.

**TBC**


	6. Waldo

"Ow. What the hell? Are you a butcher or what?" said Dean with a glare at nurse Wilkes... Or the demon nurse as Cas called her.

"Stop moving, and it won't hurt." She was facing Dean, so she didn't see Castiel suddenly appear in the middle of the room.

"You are hurting my friend," the angel told her with a glare.

"Oh my god," said the nurse, spinning around to face Castiel. "You scared me to death."

"You look alive to me," he said, taking a step forward. "You are hurting him."

"I know what I'm doing. If you would just leave, I could get it done much quicker."

Castiel's blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am not leaving you alone with my friend. I do not like you, you cause him pain."

"Hey Dean," said Sam, entering the room. He froze when he saw that Cas looked as if he wanted to kill the nurse. "What's going on?"

"The demon nurse was hurting Dean," answered the angel, not looking away from the nurse.

"Will you stop calling me that? My name is nurse Wilkes. Dean is my patient."

Sam shook his head, and walked over to Dean. "Not anymore. Get out, and send someone else to take care of my brother. You stay away from him."

"Fine." Nurse Wilkes walked towards the door, but Castiel stepped in-front of her.

Dean tried not to smile as he watched the angel glaring hatefully at the nurse. "You are lucky I like humans," he said, before stepping out of her way.

The nurse's face turned as white as milk as she almost ran out of the room.

"Hey, Rambo? Have you finished?"

Castiel turned around, and went red when he saw the two Winchesters looking at him. "I apologise."

"No need to apologise... just stop appearing out of nowhere. What if someone besides us saw you?"

"Yeah... But it's nice that an angel is watching out for my brother. Thanks."

Castiel nodded, and cleared his throat. "Hello Dean, how are you feeling today?"

"Same as before. Still can't feel my damn legs."

The other two looked at each other sadly. "It will take time, Dean. My father would not leave you like this, he needs you."

"If your father needs me so much, he wouldn't have let this happen in the first place."

Castiel looked down at Dean with a wounded expression.

Sam took pity on the angel. "He doesn't mean it, Castiel."

"The hell I don't mean it. It's not you who has to be stuck here all day with nothing to do but physio and search for Waldo," said Dean, gesturing to the bedside table which was littered with the Where's Waldo books that Sam had found for him.

"Who is Waldo?" asked a confused Castiel.

"He's someone I have to look for..." Dean trailed off as Castiel nodded.

"I will find him for you," said the angel, before disappearing.

"Ca-" Dean blinked in surprise. "Okay. That was... weird."

Bobby walked in, holding two cups of coffee. "What's weird?" he asked, handing Sam a coffee.

"Oh nothing. Just Cas going on a search for Waldo," Dean told him with an amused expression.

Bobby stared at Dean for a second. "Come again?"

Dean pointed at the books. "I was telling Cas I had nothing to do but that, and then he suddenly disappeared saying he'd find him for me."

"Yer right, that is weird."

The men tried not to laugh when they heard someone yelling for Waldo down the hall. Another nurse came to the door with a glance back outside, she shook her head and came in.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Some weird guy asking people if they have seen someone." She gave Dean his meds, then checked him over. "Well everything is looking good."

Dean grinned at her. "I always look good," he said with a wink, making Bobby and Sam roll their eyes.

"Er... I-I should talk to your doctor," the nurse told him, a blush staining her cheeks. "But if there are no complications or anything, we should be able to move you to a regular room in the next few days."

"Awesome. But when can I get out of here? I hate these places... But I love nurses," Dean added quickly.

The nurse went bright red. "I'm... We want to keep you in for awhile longer."

Dean sighed. "Oh joy," he whispered to himself.

The nurse looked at the other two men sadly. "I'll leave you guys alone. You know what to do if you need anything," she said, before walking out of the room.

"Why don't I ask someone if we can get a wheelchair, and get you out of this room for a bit?" Sam suggested. "You've just had your medication so it shouldn't be as painful this time."

"Sure why not. It beats staring at these walls all day long."

"Okay. I'll be back in a sec." Sam walked out of the room, passing the window on his way out. He burst out laughing when he saw Castiel outside looking around before he disappeared again. "He's still looking for him."

Dean rolled his eyes with a fond look.

A few minutes later, Sam came back in with a wheelchair with a nurse walking behind him. "Your doctor said you can go for a ride as long as you're not sitting too long. And let your family know if you need to get back."

Dean nodded, and threw the blankets off him.

Sam wheeled the chair over to the bed. "Let me help you." The younger Winchester wrapped his arms around Dean, and carefully helped his injured brother into the chair. "Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling in-front of Dean.

"Yeah," said Dean, wincing. "Hurts a little that's all. Are we going or what?"

Sam nodded, and grabbed a blanket to put over Dean's legs, before he took hold of the handles to push him out of the room. "Here we go."

Dean sat quietly in the wheelchair while Sam pushed him through the corridors of the hospital. Sam was rambling about something, but he didn't pay attention, he was lost in his own thoughts.

Before Dean knew it, he was in the gardens where there were other patients from the hospital. Sam wheeled him away from the others, and applied the brake.

Dean sighed, and tilted his head back to the sun. "That's better."

"You're not in pain, are you?" Sam asked him, sitting by the wheelchair.

"No, I'm fine. It's nice to be out." Dean closed his eyes again, smiling to himself as he felt the heat on his face.

Bobby watched him with a smile of his own as he sat on the other side of the chair. Castiel suddenly appeared in-front of them, making Bobby and Sam jump.

"What happened to you?" asked Sam when he saw Castiel's hair stuck up wildly.

"I was not able to find Waldo," Cas told him, pouting slightly.

Dean burst out laughing.

Castiel frowned and watched him. "What is so amusing?"

"Y-You..." Dean couldn't talk as he broke up again, laughing uncontrollably. He was laughing for two or three minutes before his back started screaming in agony. "Ahh, Sonofa-" he moaned, a grimace crossing his face. "Don't ma-make me... laugh."

"I did not do anything funny. Why are you laughing at me?"

Dean finally managed to stop laughing. "That hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it," he said, wiping his tears from laughing so hard.

"I do not understand why Dean is so happy, I could not find his friend."

"Waldo's a guy you have to find in a book. He's not real," Sam told him, biting his lip as he tried not to start laughing.

"Oh. I wondered why people were giving me funny looks. I checked the whole hospital, and different parts of the country."

"I can't believe you went everywhere to look for some guy who didn't exist."

"I thought you wanted to find your friend. At least I made you laugh," he said with a shrug.

"Thanks Cas. It's been so long since I laughed like that," he said, before shifting uncomfortably. "Uh... Can we go back now? My back is hurting like a sonofabitch."

Sam immediately stood, and grabbed the handles. "Yeah. Come on," he said as he almost ran back into the hospital with the chair.

Castiel walked with Bobby. "Is Dean mad at me?"

"Why would he be mad at ya?"

Castiel shrugged, and looked down. "I made him hurt again," he answered sadly.

"He's alright. He's not supposed to laugh yet," Bobby told him, placing his hand on the angel's shoulder as the two walked in together.

When they got back to the room, Dean was already in bed, looking pale with his eyes scrunched closed. Sam was pressing the call button almost frantically.

"I'll go find Wal... I mean a nurse," Castiel told them, and walked back out of the room.

Sam shook his head, still amused.

Castiel came back into the room a minute later with a nurse following behind him. "This one is not a demon. I checked."

"Thanks Cas," whispered Dean weakly as the nurse gave him some much needed medication. "Stop saying demons in-front of people... Y-You're freaking everyone out."

When the nurse left, Dean turned to the window, a single tear falling down his cheek. He wiped it away, so the others didn't see, but of course Sam noticed.

"What's wrong?" asked a worried Sam, taking Dean's hand.

"I can't be like this my whole life, Sam... I just can't."

Sam squeezed his hand gently. "You're not going to. You'll get better, you just need a little more time. Not even Dean Winchester can bounce straight back from a gunshot wound to the back."

"Even a superhero can get hurt sometimes," said Castiel with his usual serious expression.

Dean rolled his eyes, and turned to look at the men and angel. "Thanks guys," he said quietly, his eyes drifting shut.

Cas tilted his head slightly. "I have to go. I will return in a little while."

Sam bit his lip, trying not to smile. "You're not going to look for Waldo again, are you?"

"No. I have to check something. Call me if Dean needs me. I should be back before he wakes up." With that, the angel left the room.

Sam looked at Bobby, who shrugged.

The two looked after their sleeping family member, while they waited for him to come back.

* * *

It was almost two in the morning when Castiel came back. He sat on the edge of Dean's bed, and watched the sleeping hunter.

Sam shifted in his sleep, and opened his eyes. He jumped slightly when he saw Cas sitting on the bed. "Everything okay?"

"Yes. I had to make sure nobody tracked me during my little... trip."

"Nobody did, right?" asked a worried Sam.

"Everything is okay, Sam. If we needed to move him, I would have woke you up straight away," said Castiel, turning back to look at Dean. "Go back to sleep. I will watch Dean."

Sam closed his eyes again. He knew Dean would be okay if he had an angel watching over him.

**TBC**


	7. Coffee

Several days later, Dean woke from a short sleep. He winced and looked over at Sam, who was reading by his bedside. "Hey."

Sam lowered the book he was reading, and smiled at him. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Still the same," Dean answered, closing his eyes.

"You're going to be alright, Dean."

"Ya should listen to yer brother."

Dean jumped in shock, and moaned in pain when the movement sent a shooting pain up his back. "Give me some warning you're there next time."

"Sorry. Do ya need a nurse?" asked the older man, rising from his seat.

"No. I-I'm fine."

Castiel walked into the room with two coffees for Sam and Bobby. He smiled when he saw Dean awake. "HelloDeanhowareyoutoday?"

Dean, Sam and Bobby stared at the angel. "What?" they asked in unison.

"IaskedhowDeanwas."

"Cas, come here," said Dean, waving him over.

Castiel walked closer to the injured hunter, and stopped when he was two feet away from the bed.

"Closer." When Castiel was leaning close enough, Dean slapped him around the back of the head.

"Ow." Cas stood back up. "Whatareyouhittingmefor?"

"I thought you were broken or something." Dean was staring at Castiel as he started bouncing on his feet. He sighed, and turned to the other men. "Okay. Who broke the angel?"

The two men looked at each other, before looking down at Dean. "We didn't do anything."

"What the hell is the matter with him then?" asked Dean, looking at the fidgeting angel.

Sam walked over to Castiel, and sighed when he saw the two empty cups. "He drank our coffee," he said, showing Dean and Bobby the empty coffee cups.

"W-What? You-" Dean turned to Castiel. "What the hell did you drink coffee for? I thought you didn't eat or drink."

"Iwas..." started Cas, but stopped when Dean raised his hand.

"Okay. Try to talk slower, so I can understand a word you're saying."

"Iwas curious," he said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, for the love of..." Dean put his hand over his face, and sighed, before he turned to Sam and Bobby. "Rule one- never give caffeine to an angel. Rule two- Never leave Cas unattended."

Bobby and Sam seemed amused at the thought of the angel on a caffeine high.

"Didn't you ever hear that curiosity killed the Cas?"

"Don't you mean killed the cat?" asked Sam.

"No. I mean Cas. Because I swear to god, if he doesn't stop with the twitching and the fidgeting, I'm gonna kill him."

Castiel stopped, and sat on the edge of Dean's bed. "Iapologise."

Dean sighed, and winced again as the movement caused more pain in his injured back. "Sonof-"

"Deandoyouneedanurse?" asked Castiel, standing up from the bed.

"NO!" Dean waved his hand at the door. "Close the door, so Cas doesn't get loose."

Sam laughed, and walked over to close the door. "Dean, he's not a dog."

"I'm not letting him near the nurses when he's like that." Dean nodded at Castiel, who was looking around the room, moving his hands in and out of the pockets of his trench coat. He didn't seem to be able to keep still. "They won't understand a word he's saying. And with the twitching, they'd probably think he was on drugs or something."

"Drugsarebad," replied the angel, sitting on the bed again. As he looked around the room as if he had never seen it before, his left leg started shaking.

"Can you stop showing off that you can move your legs?" Dean asked through clenched teeth.

Castiel flinched, and jumped from the bed. "WhatdidIdo?" He frowned, and looked around the room. "Whatwasthatnoise?"

"Er... It was you talking, Cas," Dean told him, resting back against the pillows.

"Whatwas?"

"Oh for... Nevermind."

Sam and Bobby laughed at the pair of them.

"Try to talk slower," Dean told Cas.

"Okay."

The injured hunter moaned, and put his hand on his face as the room suddenly started swimming.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" asked Sam in concern when he saw Dean turn a shade paler.

Dean didn't answer, so Cas walked to the door again. When Dean removed his hand, he saw the angel halfway across the room. "CAS! Get your ass back here."

Castiel stopped, and turned to Dean, looking confused. "Ican't... Theass isattached tothisVessel."

Dean rolled his eyes. At least Castiel was starting to make a bit more sense now he wasn't talking so fast. "Get back in here. I'm fine," he said, taking a deep breath.

"Dean, you're not fine," said a worried Sam.

"Yeah. Ya look like crap, son."

"Hey. I never look crap. I... always look aw-awesome." Dean smirked slightly, but it didn't have the same affect as it usually did. "I'm f-fine."

Sam ignored him, and pressed the call button.

"Sam, what did you do that for?" Dean looked over at Castiel. "Don't let him talk to the nurse."

Instead of saying anything, Castiel went to stand by the window, the blue eyes scanning the scenery below him.

Dean watched him. "You're not planning on doing a head-dive out of the... window, are you?"

"No." Cas turned suddenly when a nurse came in. "Myfriend isinpain," he said, pointing at Dean with a trembling finger.

"You'll be in pain in a minute," Dean muttered to himself.

"Let's have a look at you then," said the nurse, walking over to the bed-ridden hunter.

Castiel walked over to stand beside the nurse, twitching. "Whatareyoudoing?"

"Castiel, let her work," Sam told him.

Cas didn't listen, instead he walked closer to the bed. "CanIhelp? Iam an angelofthelord."

Sam walked over to him. "Come over here," he said, grabbing his shoulders, and leading him away from the bed.

The nurse gave Dean some medication, and turned to Sam and Castiel. "Did he say he was an angel?"

"No. He's... uh... A good guy, who's good like an... angel."

"Iam arealAngel Doyouknowthe Demonnurse? AngelsandDemons don'tgetalong sogood," Castiel told her, looking around. "Shecannotcome inhere anymore."

"Cas, let the poor woman leave," Dean said, looking up at his from the bed. "You're freaking her out."

The nurse smiled back at Dean, before running out of the room.

Bobby sighed. "That's another nurse he's freaked out."

Cas pulled away from Sam. "Ididn'tdo anythingIjust toldthetruth TheDemonnurse isevil."

"I'll say. She was like.. L-Lucifer in a dress," Dean said quietly.

Sam and Bobby laughed. "For the last time... the nurse isn't evil. She wouldn't get in here if she was."

Dean didn't say anything, he just rested his head back on the pillows. He didn't want to tell Sam, but he really wasn't feeling so good.

**TBC**


	8. From bad

Two days later, Dean woke up, and saw his brother sitting by his bed, reading the paper. "Anything interesting?" he whispered weakly.

Sam jumped and lowered the paper. "No. Not really. How are you feeling?"

"You don't need to ask me that every day, you know."

"Sorry. I'm just worried about you," said Sam, reaching over for the glass of water on the bedside table. "Here." He helped Dean sit up a little so he could have a drink.

"Thanks," said Dean after taking a sip. "Where are Bobby and Cas?"

"Bobby's gone to a motel. Castiel had to do something."

"Is Cas any better yet?"

"Yeah. Caffeine high wore off late last night. Almost drove me and Bobby crazy."

Dean closed his eyes and moaned in pain, turning away from Sam.

Sam noticed how white he looked, and sat on the edge of Dean's bed. "Dean? Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, stroking Dean's hair back from his forehead. He flinched when he felt the heat emanating from him. "Dean, you're burning up."

"No, I'm not. It's just a little warm in here," Dean answered, shifting slightly. He grabbed Sam's arm, which was reaching for the call button. "Sam, please. I don't need your help, I'm fine."

"Dean, you're not fine. You're as white as a sheet... you're hot."

Dean's lips twitched slightly. "Thanks."

"You know what I mean, you jerk," he said fondly. "You don't moan in pain when you're feeling okay. Will you just admit that not even Dean Winchester can be 100% all the time."

"Sam, for the last time... I-I'm fine. Stop worrying," said Dean, looking up at Sam through half-lidded eyes.

"Dean, you're my brother. It's my job to worry about you," Sam told him, taking Dean's hand in his. "It's my turn to look after you, how can I do that if you won't let me?"

"I can take care of myself, Sam. I've been doing it since I was four years old. I don't need you mother henning me to death. And I don't need your help."

"Brothers take care of each other. You're hurt, in hospital and you can't walk right now, so that gives me another reason to be more of a 'mother-hen'. Just let me, alright?"

Dean was about to shake his head, when Sam squeezed his hand slightly. "Dean, I'm not taking no for an answer. I'll be right here by your side until you get out of here." He frowned when he saw Dean looking away. "What's wrong?"

"What if I still can't?" asked Dean quietly, refusing to look at his brother.

"What do you mean?"

Dean was silent for a minute, and then whispered, "When I get out of here... w-what if I still can't walk?"

"I'll still be right here to take care of you."

"I don't want to be a burden," Dean admitted.

"Dean, you're not a burden, you're my brother. I don't care whether you can walk or not, you're still my smartass big brother and I love you." Sam's eyes filled with tears as he told Dean something he hadn't in years. "Is that why you won't let me help? You think that if you have to spend your life in a wheelchair that I'm just going to abandon you?" he asked, feeling hurt that he would even think that.

Dean shrugged, and looked down at their joined hands. "It wouldn't be the first time you've left me."

"Listen to me... Whether you can walk or not, I'm not leaving you. I've walked away... I've lost count of how many times, but this time you're not getting rid of me. I don't care if I have to tell you that every single day, I'm not going anywhere."

Dean swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat as he gave a tiny smile. "Thanks Sam."

Sam squeezed Dean's hand again. "Don't mention it. Now if you're in pain, not feeling good or you need anything... doesn't matter what it is, I want you to tell me straight away, alright?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, you don't." Sam turned serious again. "You're the strongest person I know, and if anyone can beat this, it's you. You just have to believe in yourself like I do."

Dean nodded. "Okay, I'll try." He shifted a little, and closed his eyes against the sudden dizziness.

Sam was about to ask if he was okay again, when Castiel suddenly appeared in the room. "Is everything okay?" he asked the angel.

"Yes. There was a little problem I had to take care of, but everything is fine now." He looked down at Dean and frowned in concern. "Dean?"

Sam quickly turned back to his brother, and saw him with his hand over his eyes, breathing heavily. "Castiel, get a nurse. Now."

The angel nodded, and rushed out of the hospital room to look for a nurse.

"Hey, Dean? Look at me," said Sam urgently. "Dean."

Dean moaned, and lowered his arm. "S'm?" he muttered. "I-I don't..."

"I know. Castiel's getting a nurse right now. Hold on, okay?" Sam cupped Dean's hot cheek gently, and gasped when he noticed that he felt hotter than before. "Dammit."

Dean started blinking rapidly, fighting to stay conscious.

"Dean, stay awake."

Castiel rushed back in. "A nurse will be here in a minute. What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," answered Sam, not looking away from Dean. "Dean, stay the hell awake."

"No... N-Not hell. No."

"Crap, wrong word to say." Sam leaned closer until his face was just an inch away from Dean's. "Hey, you're not in hell. You're going to be fine. Stay awake."

"Is everything okay?" asked Bobby, walking into the room. "What happened?"

"There's something wrong with Dean."

Bobby joined Cas at Dean's bedside. "Damn, son. Ya look like crap."

"Th-thanks," he whispered weakly, eyelids fluttering.

"Hey, come on. Don't close your eyes."

Dean's eyes closed against his will, his head lolled weakly back against the pillows.

"DEAN!" yelled Sam, lifting Dean's head onto his lap, fingers combing through the sweat-soaked hair.

Dean's eyes opened a crack, and slivers of green looked up at his brother. "S'my?"

"I'm right here," said Sam in a soothing voice, still stroking his hair.

Castiel frowned worriedly, and ran back out of the room, trench coat flying behind him. "HEY ASS-BUTT! WHERE'S THE NURSE?" he called to a random guy in the corridor.

Sam smiled in amusement. "He's been hanging around you too much," he whispered fondly, his free hand holding tightly to Dean's.

"B'sh," said Dean weakly.

"Jerk."

By the time the nurse finally came in, Dean was unconscious.

**TBC**


	9. To worse

A few hours later, Sam was sitting by his unconscious brother's bedside. Dean had managed to pick up an infection, and was back on oxygen since his breathing was laboured. He was tilted slightly to take pressure off his back.

Sam hadn't left his side since he passed out. Dean always somehow managed to get worse before he got better while he was in hospital. Sam remembered when they were teenagers and Dean broke two ribs and his leg during a hunt. He ended up with a bad case of pneumonia during that stay in hospital.

"You never do things the easy way, do you?" Sam asked him as he started stroking his flushed cheek gently, his other hand was holding Dean's tightly. "But I'm not going anywhere... now or when you get out of here. Just keep fighting, okay? That's all you need to do."

Sam wiped the tear that fell down his cheek. "I need you, Dean. I know you think you being in a wheelchair will change things between us, but it won't. I don't care if you can walk or not... I'm not leaving you."

"I need my big brother to wake up. I-I love you. I know, chick-flick moment. But I'm not going to stop until you wake up, and tell me to shut the hell up. You can even call me Samantha or some other girly name." Sam smiled slightly. He would give anything to hear one of Dean's sarcastic comments right now.

There was a quiet knock at the door, and a young nurse walked in. Sam glared at her, and shifted his chair even closer to his brother's bed.

"Hey Sam. I've just come to check on him."

When she touched Dean's face, Sam shot up. "Don't touch him," he growled, making the nurse step back in shock.

"I was checking his temp... Making sure he wasn't getting worse."

"Well, can't you do that without touching him?" asked Sam, sitting back in his chair, and taking Dean's hand in both of his.

"Sorry." The nurse checked Dean over, shooting glances at Sam every few seconds. He seemed to be in full protective mode- he didn't let anyone touch his brother, and had already threatened several nurses and the doctor when they had touched him.

When she finished, Sam finally looked away from Dean. "How's he doing?"

"His fever is still holding at 105. The antibiotics we gave him earlier aren't working yet, but it's still early so hopefully we'll see an improvement soon," she told him, writing something down. "We'll have to keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn't get worse."

Sam bit his lip, and nodded. "Okay... But he won't, right?" he asked, sounding like a child.

"I can't say, Sam. I have to go. Press the call button if there's any change," she told him, before leaving the room.

Sam nodded again, eyes glued to his unconscious sibling. "Just get better, Dean. You hear me?"

When the only answer he got in return was the  _beep beep_ of the heart monitor, Sam sighed, and leaned slightly forward. "I'm keeping my promise, Dean. I'm going to be right here with you... and nothing will hurt you while I'm here, you hear me? All you need to do is lie here and get better. Me, Bobby and Castiel are right here with you."

He took the wet cloth from the bowl beside him, and started wiping Dean's flushed face with it. While the doctors tried to lower his fever their way, he was trying to do everything he could to help him.

After almost fifteen minutes, Sam nodded to himself, and left the cloth on Dean's forehead, to sit back and watch over his sick brother.

* * *

Later, Bobby walked into the room, sitting in the spare chair. "Hey, Sam. How's he doing?"

Sam shrugged. "Still the same," he told him, squeezing his limp hand gently in his own.

"He can't catch a break, can he?"

"No. Where's Castiel?" Sam asked him, looking away from Dean for a second.

"I sent him to the cafeteria for awhile, to give us some time alone. Yer going to have to let the nurses help him, ya know."

"I never stopped them from helping him, they just can't touch him."

"Sam..."

"He doesn't like to be touched when he's sick, Bobby," Sam told him, stroking the back of Dean's hand.

"Why are ya holding his hand then?"

"So he knows I'm here. I told him I'm not leaving him, and if he knows I'm here... he'll keep fighting."

"Sam?"

"What?"

"Maybe ya should take a little break, huh? Ya haven't left him for hours, not even to eat. I'll take care of him."

"No. I'm not going anywhere."

"Sam, he's not going to wake up or get worse the second ya look away from him."

"You don't know that. I'm just doing my job, I'm going to do it right this time," Sam whispered quietly.

"What are ya talking about?" asked a confused Bobby.

"When he came back from hell, I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most. The only thing he probably needed was me, but I was always out with Ruby. I chose a demon over my own brother, how could I do that?"

"Sam..."

"But now, I'm putting him first before everything, like I should've done last year," said Sam, interrupting whatever Bobby was going to say. "He's my brother, and I can't even take care of him properly."

Bobby put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Yer the best at taking care of him... even when he won't let ya."

"Bobby, he got shot when I was right there... he can't walk and now he's sick. Yeah, I'm the best brother ever," he said sarcastically. "I know that if I'm here looking after him, nobody's going to touch him or hurt him... he's hurt enough."

"The doctors and nurses won't hurt him, they're trying to help him... when they can get near him without ya threatening them."

"They can help him without touching him. How do you know if they're just doctors? What if a demon or something found out where he is, and they possessed one of them? I know I'm not usually good at keeping promises. I promised him I wouldn't let him go to hell, look how well that turned out. But I'm keeping these promises."

"Sam, ya can't watch him every second of every day."

"I can try. He's my brother Bobby," said the younger Winchester with tears in his eyes. "H-He's my big brother." He lowered his head against Dean's shoulder and started crying.

Bobby frowned in concern, and patted Sam on the back. "He'll be alright, Sam. I'll get us some lunch, okay? Ya can't look after him if ya can't look after yerself." He stood and gave Sam some alone time with Dean.

As soon as Bobby was outside, he looked up. "Ya better take care of that boy in there. Sam needs his big brother, his hero... and I need that kid too. So if yer up there, Get yer thumb out of yer ass and help him," he said, before going to the cafeteria.

Alone with his brother again, Sam re-wet the cloth, and wiped his face gently. He frowned in concern when even unconscious, Dean started shaking. "It's okay, Dean."

Sam was too busy trying to cool Dean down, that at first he didn't notice Castiel suddenly appear on the other side of Dean's bed until he looked up. "Hey, what's up?"

The angel was looking down at Dean with his head tilted slightly to the left. "Why is he moving like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like he is getting electrocuted."

"He's shivering. The fever, and the cold water make him feel cold even when he's hot."

"He feels cold?" asked Cas, looking down at himself. He nodded, and started taking the trench coat off.

Sam stopped what he was doing and stared as the angel gently covered the bed-ridden hunter in the trench coats warmth.

Castiel adjusted the coat so it covered Dean's upper body. "Will that help?"

"I'm sure it will. Thanks." That little gesture made Sam like the angel a little more, and he smiled at him to show his appreciation.

Castiel gave Sam a tiny smile in return, and looked back down at Dean. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Sam, frowning. "You didn't do anything."

"I would heal him if I could... But without my powers, I cannot do anything for him." He sat down on the edge of Dean's bed, and watched him. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

Castiel watched Sam for a few minutes. "Can I do that?"

"Do what?"

"What you are doing. I would like to help."

Sam looked from Dean to Castiel. If he couldn't trust an angel to look after his brother, who could he trust? He reluctantly handed the cloth to Cas, who took it with a nod.

"Thank you, Sam." Castiel placed the cloth on Dean's cheek like he had seen Sam doing.

"Wipe it across his face," Sam told him, demonstrating. "And down his neck."

Castiel nodded, and did as Sam told him. He wasn't used to taking care of humans this way, but he felt as if he owed this to his friend. "Why are we doing this?"

"The water is cold, so it'll hopefully cool his skin down and get rid of some of the fever." Sam watched Cas carefully. The angel and Bobby were the only two he could trust with Dean.

"Should one of us kiss him?" Castiel asked suddenly.

Sam looked over in shock, his eyebrows shooting up. "Excuse me?"

Castiel shifted uncomfortably at the way Sam was looking at him. "Once, Dean said something about you when you were sleeping."

Sam continued staring, but didn't say anything.

"He called you sleeping beauty... because you were asleep and snoring," Castiel explained. "I think he was being sarcastic. When I asked who that was, he told me it was a story about this girl who would not wake up until this man kissed her. Maybe we should try that, and he will recover."

Sam burst out laughing. It was the first time he had laughed in days, it felt good. He could just imagine the expression on Dean's face if he woke up to one of them kissing him, and it made him laugh harder.

"Why are you laughing?"

Sam put his hand over his face, still laughing uncontrollably.

"Should I get a nurse?" asked Cas, wondering if Sam had gone weird.

Sam just shook his head as the laughter continued. Two minutes later, he cleared his throat, and wiped his eyes as he finally stopped laughing.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked the concerned angel.

"Yeah. Sorry. But that's a fairy tale, it won't happen in real life. Can you imagine Dean's face if he woke up to one of us kissing him?" he asked, and started laughing again.

"He would threaten to kill us. So maybe we should not kiss him then."

"Yeah. I like my head where it is, thanks," said Sam, squeezing his brother's hand gently. "Not that I'm complaining, but why do you care about Dean so much?"

"He is my friend. I have learned a lot from him."

"Me too," said Sam with a fond smile.

"Some of the things he says I do not understand, but he is... interesting."

"That's one word to describe him," said Sam lovingly.

Bobby walked back into the room with some coffee and sandwiches. "Hey Sam." He raised his eyebrows when he saw Castiel with the cloth. "What happened to nobody touches yer brother?"

"He's somebody I trust," said Sam, stroking Dean's sweat-soaked hair.

Castiel looked at the younger Winchester in surprise. "Thank you, Sam."

Sam nodded, then yawned sleepily. He rubbed his eyes, and shook his head as he continued staring at Dean.

"Sam, maybe ya should take a little nap, huh?"

"I'm not tired," said Sam, blinking rapidly.

"You need sleep, Sam," Castiel told him, stilling the washcloth.

"I need to take care of my brother. It's my responsibility... my job. If I don't do it, who else will?"

"Bobby and I will," answered Cas, not intimidated by Sam's glaring. "I will make sure no demon nurses get near Dean. I will protect him, you have my word."

"I can't. He needs me."

"Ya won't be able to look after him if ya end up passing out," Bobby tried telling the stubborn younger man.

Castiel watched the two men, nodding in agreement. "Since I have been here, you've barely slept. Humans need rest to... recharge."

"I need to look after Dean more than I need sleep," said Sam, yawning again.

"You leave me no choice," said Castiel, reaching out to touch Sam's forehead.

Bobby caught Sam as he fell sideways limply, head flopping everywhere. "Thanks," he said to the angel, adjusting the sleeping Winchester, so his upper body was laying on Dean's bed. "Stubborn Winchesters."

Cas nodded once, looking sadly down at Dean. "I wish it would work to help Dean get better."

"Yeah, me too. Give him time, he'll be as good as new. He always is."

**TBC**


	10. Shining

"...The Torrance family stood together on the long front porch of the Overlook Hotel as if posing for a family portrait..." Sam read to Dean as he sat at his bedside. Every few words, he glanced up at Dean, as if expecting to see the green eyes open, to see his big brother suddenly wake up and look at him.

Four days Dean had been unconscious now. Four days Sam had refused to be moved from the chair he had claimed as his own. Two days since Dean had suffered a seizure due to his high fever.

The doctors and nurses were working hard to make sure his fever didn't spike, and get worse. So far, whatever they were doing seemed to be working, since Dean's fever was gradually lowering.

Sam sighed, and continued reading to his unconscious brother. The only sounds in the room came from Sam reading to Dean, and the heart monitor attached to Dean's chest. Each beep confirmed Dean was still with them, and had not given up the fight.

Bobby came back from the cafeteria to see the scene in the hospital room was still the same as before.

Sam cleared his throat and wiped his eyes when his vision blurred with the sudden tears. "...Ja-Jack nodded, feeling some real sympathy for U-Ullman. Everything was done for the season, the ball of string was neatly wrapped up until next May 12..." He stopped reading, and put his hand over his face.

Castiel was sitting silently in the corner chair in just his suit and tie. He hadn't taken his coat back since he had wrapped Dean in it, and refused to take it back from him until he woke up. "Sam? Are you alright?" he asked, standing up.

Sam jumped in surprise, he had forgot the angel was there. "Er..." he said, wiping his tears. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

Bobby chose that moment to walk into the room. "That's a load of crap. Yer not fine, Sam. We can all see that."

"I need my brother to wake up," Sam admitted, staring at the bed-ridden hunter. "It's been four days now, Bobby."

"I know, son. But the doctor said his fever has gone down from 105 to 103, so that means he's getting better. He needs a bit more time, then he'll wake up and be annoying the hell out of us in about ten minutes."

"I'd give anything to hear one of Dean's sarcastic comments right about now."

"Me too," said Bobby, looking down at Dean. He cleared his throat, and prepared to tell Sam what a friend had just called him about. "Er... Sam? We're needed on a hunt."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he looked up at the older man. "What do you mean 'we'? I'm not going anywhere."

"But Sam... A friend of mine heard about people going missing, but turning up dead a few miles away. We think it might be our kind of thing."

"And?" said Sam, his face expressionless.

"And, it's our job. People are dying."

Sam shrugged. "I don't care."

Bobby shared a look with Castiel. "Ya don't mean that, Sam. In-case ya haven't noticed the world is pretty much ending around us... not to mention Lucifer's free."

"Don't tell me what I mean and what I don't mean. In-case  **you** haven't noticed my brother is seriously injured in intensive care... he's sick, and can't walk." Sam reached over to take Dean's limp hand in his. "If I had to choose between saving the world and my brother, I'd choose Dean every single time. Even if I save Dean, and the world ended, at least we'd die together, because if I lost Dean... Life wouldn't be worth living anyway."

Sam paused to take a deep breath, trying to control his emotions. "You might think I'm selfish... or maybe even evil that I'd choose one person over everyone else, but that one person means more to me than anything in the world... And if the world has to end for me to prove that... then so be it," he said, looking back at his unconscious sibling.

Bobby was looking down at Dean too, the love he felt for the young man laying in the bed was written all over his face. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt the same way as Sam about his two boys.

"As soon as he wakes up, I'm going to show him how much he means to me, by acting like the brother I should have been last year."

"Come here, ya idjit," said Bobby, holding his arms out. When Sam stood, he wrapped his arms tightly around the younger Winchester. "It's alright. I'll send some other hunters out to do the job. We need to take care of our own family."

Sam hugged him back just as tightly.

When the two pulled away, they saw Castiel watching them. "With you two by his side, I believe Dean will wake up and recover from this... and the injury."

"I know he will too," said Sam, sitting back in his chair, his copy of the Shining back on his lap. "I wish it never happened. If Dean had pretended to agree to operate on the guys wife... he might not have shot him."

Castiel sat on the edge of Dean's bed, looking down at the injured hunter. "He may have thought Dean was being sarcastic," he suggested. "When he said none of it was real."

"If Dean was shot every time he was a smartass, he'd be shot every five minutes," said Bobby with a fond smile at the young man who was the closest thing he had to a son.

Sam surprised himself by laughing. "Yeah, I guess he would. Dean wouldn't be Dean without his smart-ass comments."

"And our lives certainly would be a lot more boring without his... Dean-ness."

"Is that a real term?" asked Castiel.

"No. There are many things that make Dean unique, and his sarcasm, and sense of humour are two of them." Sam sighed. "But I guess if anyone's to blame, it's the Trickster... or Gabriel, it's his fault Dean's like this."

Bobby nodded in agreement. "Nice to see yer not blaming yerself anymore."

"I swear, he better wake up soon, I'm bored without him around."

"I miss him too... even though sometimes I do not understand what he is talking about," Castiel admitted.

For several minutes, the two men and the angel watched Dean silently, almost willing him to wake up, and make a joke about them watching him sleeping.

The older Winchester still hadn't regained any colour, other than the two red spots on his cheeks from the fever which ravaged his weakened body. The sprinkling of freckles looking so dark, they looked as if they had been drawn on. His breathing was still ragged, but at least it hadn't got worse, the oxygen mask was helping with that.

Bobby sighed, and got his phone out of his pocket. "I better go outside, and make those calls. Castiel, come get me if there's any change."

"I will, Bobby. The very second it happens."

Bobby put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Keep reading to him, Sam. If anyone can get through to him..." he trailed off, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"Thanks Bobby," said Sam, watching the older man leave. He picked up the book, and started from where he left off.

Castiel shifted slightly, and listened to the story too. He didn't know why, but he found the book about a haunted hotel interesting. "Sam? Did this thing really happen?" he asked curiously after several pages.

Sam lowered the book. "What? The Shining? No, it's written by a guy named Stephen King, It's Dean's favourite movie. I thought since he can't watch it right now, it would be the next best thing... even though it's very different to the movie, and Jack Nicholson isn't in it. Dean loves Jack Nicholson movies... almost as much as he loves the Batman movies."

Castiel nodded. "Dean promised when he was better that he would watch it with me. I have never watched TV before."

"I hope you're prepared for a running commentary about everything that happens, and a huge lecture about how cool the Batmobile is."

"I look forward to it."

"Better you than me," said Sam, continuing with the book. "...Jack had seen red, and remembered very little of the encounter that followed..."

* * *

Several hours later, Sam had reached the part where Danny went into room 217. "A week and a half later two feet of snow lay white..." he stopped, and looked over at his brother. What he saw almost made his heart explode with happiness. "Dean?"

Dean was looking at Sam through half-lidded, glazed green eyes, smiling weakly. "S'my."

"Oh my god," said Sam, dropping the book, and carefully leaning over Dean to pull him into a gentle hug. "Oh god, it's so good to see you." He sat back down, grinning like a lunatic. He turned to a sleeping Bobby in the chair beside him, and shook him awake.

"Wha-?" asked a confused Bobby, jerking in his seat. His face lit up when he saw Dean awake. "About time, boy. Ya had me and yer brother worried sick."

"I was worried too," said Castiel from the other side of Dean's bed.

Dean jumped slightly, not realising the angel was behind him, and screamed in pain behind the oxygen mask. "Sonofa-" he moaned, eyes scrunching closed in agony, his back feeling as if he had been stabbed with a red hot poker.

"It's okay," soothed Sam, pressing the call button. His other hand was holding onto Dean's tightly. He started pressing the button frantically when a tear slipped free from Dean's tightly closed eyes. "Shh, I've got you."

A nurse walked into the room, and smiled when she saw Dean was finally awake. "Nice to have you back," she said, before turning to call someone in the hallway.

The doctor must have been doing his rounds, because he came into the room seconds later, and looked surprised to see Dean awake. "Hello Dean, how are you feeling?"

Dean shook his head weakly, his breathing hitched as a stab of pain shot through his back. He weakly pulled at the oxygen mask with a trembling hand, but Sam stilled the movement.

"He's in a lot of pain," Sam answered for him, looking worried.

Dr Richards came over to check on his patient. "To be honest, I'm surprised he's awake right now. His fever is still high at 103, the infection is still running its course," he told them as he checked the older Winchester over. "Any other person would probably be still unconscious for at least a couple more days while their body fights the infection." He smiled down at Dean. "It seems your family was right... you are a fighter."

Sam was running his fingers through Dean's sweat-soaked hair, looking proudly at his brother. "I told you, he's the strongest and most stubborn person I know. Aren't you, jerk?"

Dean was looking up at Sam, eyes glazed in his pale face as he concentrated on his brother while the doctor examined him. "B-B-Bish," he whispered weakly.

"This will make you feel a little better, Dean," said Dr Richards, administering the right medication to help Dean fight both the infection and the pain. He turned to the men. "Make sure Dean doesn't move too much, his body is still very weak, and fighting the infection. He still has a long road of recovery ahead of him."

"Don't worry, he moves... we'll set Bobby on him," said Sam with a grin.

The two men laughed, while Castiel looked confused, not understanding why Bobby hurting Dean was funny.

"You know what to do if Dean needs anything. I'll be back in a few hours to check on him." Dr Richards patted Dean gently on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

"Thanks doc," said Bobby gratefully, not looking away from Dean. It was as if he was afraid Dean would get worse again if he looked away from him. "Damn, it's good to see ya, son."

Sam and Castiel nodded in agreement.

Dean was looking up at the two men and angel. His trembling hand weakly pulled the oxygen mask away. "Stop st-staring... you w-weirdos," he whispered.

"No. You have no idea how worried we were, it's... it's so good to see you awake," said Sam, voice filled with emotion. He wiped his tears with the hand not holding Dean's.

Dean winced, and looked up at Castiel, noticing for the first time that the angel's trench coat was missing. "W-Where's you-your..." he trailed off, a hand gesturing to Castiel's body.

"Sam said you were cold, so I laid it over you to keep you warm," Castiel told him, seeming slightly embarrassed. "I did not want you to be cold."

Instead of making fun of him like the others thought he would, Dean gave a weak smile. "T-Thanks, Cas."

Castiel nodded. "You are very welcome, Dean."

The green eyes turned back to Sam. "Ja-Jack?"

Sam looked confused for a second, before understanding what Dean meant. "Do you want me to read to you some more?"

Dean nodded, whimpering in pain when he shifted slightly.

"Hey hey, don't move," said Sam, putting his hand on Dean's arm. He picked up the book again, turning to the page he had been reading.

Castiel and Bobby sat on each side of Dean's bed to listen to the story too.

As Bobby sat down, he felt something underneath him which didn't feel like the bed. "Dammit son, I'm sorry," he exclaimed, jumping from the bed when he realised he had accidentally sat on one of Dean's legs.

It was Dean's turn to look confused. "Fo-For what?"

Bobby's heart sank. "Er..." He looked at Sam, who shook his head slightly. "Nothing. I'll sit in the chair," he said, moving to sit in the chair beside Sam.

"Are you all ready now?" asked Sam, feeling as if he was reading a bedtime story to a bunch of kids. "A week and a half later..."

Dean closed his eyes, and listened to the soothing sound of his little brother's voice.

He was asleep five minutes later.

**TBC**


	11. Human

"...'Go away,' he said to the bloody stranger in front of him. 'Go on. Get out of here.' It bent over, exposing the knife handle in its back. Its hands closed around the mallet again, but instead of aiming at Danny, it reversed the handle, aiming the hard side of the roque mallet at its own face. Understanding rushed through Danny..."

Dean smiled slightly, listening to his brother's voice as he continued reading to him. The doctor had said it was too early for him to be awake because the wound was still infected, and he was still very weak, and needed oxygen. He suggested sedating Dean for a few more days so he could recover properly, but Sam had threatened to punch him in the nose, so that suggestion was immediately dropped.

"Do the best part... you know which one," Dean whispered weakly, removing the oxygen mask so he could talk properly.

Sam stopped reading, and lowered the book to look at Dean. "That part isn't in the book."

"I know, but th-that part is so cool. Come on Sam... d-do it. Just act it out."

"What the hell do you want me to do? Grab the axe from the Impala, and hack the door down, screaming here's Sammy?"

Dean laughed, but immediately regretted it. "Sonofabitch," he moaned, closing his eyes tightly.

"Are you alright?" asked Sam worriedly, his free hand hovering over the call button.

"Yeah." Dean took a few deep breaths, trying to control the pain. After a minute, he looked up at his little brother. "Heeeere's Johnny," he quoted with a grin.

Castiel stilled the wet washcloth he was using to cool Dean down, and looked down at his friend with a confused expression. "Your name is Dean, not Johnny." He turned to Sam. "I think Dean may be delirious. He thinks his name is Johnny."

Sam laughed. "It's from the movie. It's Dean's favourite part."

"Oh. Okay then," said the angel, who was sitting on the edge of Dean's bed. It was now his job to cool Dean down, a job he took very seriously.

Dean was still grinning at Sam. "Come on, Sammy. Do it. Dude, that would be so awesome."

"Oh yeah. It'll be hilarious if one of the doctors came in, saw me, and locked me up in the psych ward."

"Don't worry Sammy, I'll bust you out... could you wait a few months while my legs recover? B-Because I wouldn't make the best knight in shining armour if I came to the r-rescue in a wheelchair."

"I know I said I'd do anything for you, but there's no way I'm going to make myself look like a complete moron."

"W-With that hairdo? Too late."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"W-Welcome. Ugh," Dean moaned, shifting slightly when the pain flared up again in his wounded back.

Sam sat on the other side of Dean's bed, and grabbed his hand tightly. "Are you alright?" he asked again.

"My back is killing me. I hate b-being in pain... all the damn time."

"There there," said Castiel, patting Dean's shoulder.

"Wow. That was really comforting."

"Okay. Er... humans offer comfort with a hug." Castiel leaned a little closer with outstretched arms. "Would you like a hug?"

"Would you like a broken nose?"

"Er... No. I do not think I would like that," answered Castiel after several seconds of actually thinking about it.

"You're a freak, you know that?"

"You are a freak too, but you are also my friend," answered Cas with a tiny smile as he placed the washcloth back on Dean's sweat-soaked, ashen face, and ran it down his cheek gently.

Dean laughed, but stopped immediately, his body tensed on the bed. "Dammit to hell... Mother of frigging Lucifer," he groaned in agony, throwing his head back onto the pillow.

Castiel stared at Dean. "You know Lucifer's mother? Is she the demon nurse?"

Dean's face scrunched up in pain. "N-No. It s-seemed more than just a sonofabitch moment. Don't ma-make me laugh."

"That's it," said Sam, pressing the call button, knowing Dean's pain scale; 'Sonofabitch' was 'ow that really hurts', but 'mother of Lucifer' was 'Oh my god, I'm going to die.' After calling for help, he gently placed the oxygen mask back over Dean's face. "That's it, deep breaths, Dean. Breathe in and breathe out, that's it, breathe."

After a minute, Dean looked up at him. "C-Could you write that d-down in-case I forget how to breathe later?" he joked weakly.

"Okay Chuckles, try and quit with the comedy routine for a few seconds."

"I-Instead of stand-up comedy, I could do la-lay-down comedy."

"Shut up, and get some rest, moron."

"I've b-been doing... nothing but resting since I got sh-shot."

Sam was about to respond when a nurse came into the room. "What's the problem."

"Dean's trying to make jokes," answered Castiel, turning to the nurse.

Sam rolled his eyes again. "That's not the problem. He's in a lot of pain," he told the nurse.

"Okie dokie." She tried to get closer to the bed, but Castiel was in the way. "Do you mind?"

"Do I mind what?" asked Castiel, head tilting to the side in confusion.

"She wants you to move out of the way, so she can get to Dean," Sam told him.

"Oh. I apologise." Castiel stood from the bed, and looked down at his friend. "He is still feeling cold, so do not remove my coat. I am an angel of the lord, so my body heat does not change... but Dean felt cold, so I laid it over him," he said, pointing at Dean, who was still wrapped in the trench coats warmth.

Maria stared at Castiel as if he had three heads, before nodding. "Uh-huh. Okay, let's check you out then," she said to Dean.

"Sure. Ch-Check me out all y-you... want."

Maria blushed as she checked his temperature. "Good news. It's gone down a little bit. It's now holding at 102."

"That's great," said Sam, sighing in relief. "Isn't it, big brother?"

Dean grunted in response, his eyes scrunching closed, his hand tightening its grip on Sam's. If it was possible, he went even paler.

"I don't mean to rush you, but could you give him something for the pain before he passes out?" asked Sam, trying to be polite.

"I'm sorry. I'll administer the painkiller and antibiotic right now," said Maria, finally giving Dean his medication. "The doctor will come to check the wound later, okay?"

Dean nodded in agreement. "K-Kay."

"Maybe you should consider agreeing to sedation until the infection clears up," suggested the nurse, who was met by a glaring Sam.

"No way. I just got him back, I'm not going to lose him again."

"Sam, he was unconscious, not dead," said Maria unthinkingly.

Sam flinched as if he had been hit. "Get out," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry," said Maria, before walking to the door. "If he needs anything, you know what to do."

Sam and Castiel both took their places on Dean's bed again.

"Do you need anything, Dean?" Castiel asked his injured friend, gently running the cloth over Dean's hot cheek.

"No," Dean answered weakly.

Sam stared at his brother as he stroked his fingers through Dean's sweat-soaked hair. It was so good to have him back. "Are you thirsty?" Instead of waiting for an answer, he grabbed the glass, and gently helped Dean sit up, so he could have a drink. "There we go." After placing the glass back on the bedside table, Sam kept his arm around Dean for a few seconds, before gently lowering him back into the bed.

"Thanks. R-Read some more, Sa-Sammy."

"Okay." Sam picked the book back up, and continued reading where he left off. "...Then the mallet began to rise and descend, destroying the last of Jack Torrance's image. The thing in the hall danced an eerie, shuffling polka, the beat counterpointed by the hideous sound of the mallet head striking again and again. Blood splattered across the wallpaper. Shards of bone leaped into the air like broken piano keys. It was impossible to say just how long it went on. But when it turned its attention back to Danny, his father was gone forever..."

Dean smiled as he pictured everything Sam read to him. Stephen King had quite the imagination.

* * *

A few hours later, Dean awoke from a nap to see Sam and Bobby asleep in their chairs, and the angel nowhere in sight.

He closed his eyes with a little smile. This was his first moment of peace from the three mother hens since he had been in the hospital.

He laid there for several minutes, until Castiel suddenly appeared back in the room, his hand behind his back. Hearing the fluttering of wings, Dean opened his eyes. "Hey C-Cas."

"Hello. They were supposed to stay awake while I went away," said the angel, frowning when he saw the two men sleeping.

"I-It's fine, Cas. They obviously need sleep," Dean told him, before gesturing to Castiel. "What have you got?"

"Oh." A slight blush coloured his cheeks as he brought out what he was hiding. "I was walking past one of the hospital rooms earlier, and saw flowers and teddy bears. Sam told me that is what you buy for people who are in hospital... I wanted to get you something."

Dean stared at the angel, who was holding out a small gift. "You bought me fl-flowers?"

"Indeed," said Castiel, nodding.

"Didn't they have any grapes... or maybe chocolate? I don't do flowers."

"Don't you like them?" asked Castiel, lowering the flowers with a wounded expression.

Dean moaned, and raised a trembling hand to lower the oxygen mask slightly. He took a few deep breaths, before answering. "They're... great."

A smile lit up the angels face as he placed them on the table by Dean's bed, that was when he noticed sweat running down from Dean's forehead, and he was still burning up. "I will help you." He grabbed the bowl, sat on the bed, and started cooling him down again. "There you go."

Dean sighed. "Thanks Cas."

"You are very welcome, Dean." Castiel was silent for a minute. "I also walked by the children's ward, and saw parents singing to their children. Would you like me to sing to you?"

"Er..." said Dean, staring at the angel, who was starting to freak him out. "No thanks."

"Very well. Would you like a drink of water?"

"No. Do me a favour... stop trying to be more... human. You don't need to copy human behaviour. I prefer you the way you are... Weird, and just... you." He frowned slightly, and swallowed, noticing his throat was dry. "Actually, could you pass me some water?"

"Of course." Castiel reached over with his free hand, and passed the water to his friend. He remembered what he saw Sam doing earlier, and lifted Dean up a little bit so he could drink, being very careful not to hurt him.

After taking a sip, Dean nodded. "Thanks."

Castiel smiled again, and put the water back, accidentally waking Sam up.

"Whoa," Sam exclaimed, jumping up. "What happened?"

"You woke up, Sam," answered Castiel with his usual serious expression.

Sam ignored him, and moved to be closer to his sick and hurt brother. "How are you feeling?"

Dean weakly turned to look at him. "K-Kay... apart from Cas th-threatening me with violence."

"What?" asked Sam, eyes narrowing as he glared at Castiel, who was staring back.

"H-He threatened to... to si-sing at me."

"That's yer idea of violence, is it?" asked Bobby, waking up.

"It is when he sings," said Dean, nodding at the angel. "It'll probably be worse than when he... spoke to me when I came back from hell, and nearly deafened me."

Sam was still confused about the singing thing. "Why did he want to sing to you?"

"He's trying to be more... human. He's fr-freaking me out," said Dean with a yawn.

"Get some sleep, okay?"

"I've already been asleep. M-My eyelids aren't that ex-exciting."

"They're not supposed to keep ya entertained."

"Dean, you're recovering from a gunshot wound, and suffering with an infection, you need all the rest you can get," said Sam, shaking his head at his stubborn brother.

"But I just woke up yesterday, you've already finished the Shining. I'm bored," Dean told them with a dramatic sigh. "If you c-could die of boredom, I'd be six feet under by now... again."

Sam gripped his hand tightly. "Will you stop talking about dying? It's not funny."

"I didn't say it was, did I? I hate laying around doing nothing... I hate not being able to walk... I hate not being able to kick demonic ass, and drive my car." Dean frowned and stared out of the window with a miserable expression.

"I'll tell you what, we'll find something for you to do when you next wake up, okay?"

"It better not b-be I spy."

"Don't worry, it won't be. Just rest, Dean. Don't make me ask Castiel to sing to you."

Dean closed his eyes immediately. "Sleeping now."

Sam and Bobby laughed at the expression on Castiel's face as he watched Dean relax and finally fall asleep.

**TBC**


	12. kids

Several days later, the infection was finally nearly cleared up, but Dean was still feeling miserable.

Bobby, Sam and Castiel had tried everything they could think of to cheer him up, but nothing worked. Dean seemed to be falling into depression, and they didn't know how to stop him falling further.

"There, are you comfortable, Dean?" asked the angel, fussing over Dean once again. He lifted Dean's head gently, and re-arranged the pillows. "There you go."

"Oh for the love of god," sighed Dean. "I'll strangle you in a minute."

Castiel tilted his head slightly, looking confused. "Why would strangling this vessel benefit god?"

Dean rolled his eyes, and put his hand over his still warm face. "Nevermind, Cas. It's just an expression."

Sam and Bobby were watching the scene in amusement. The angel took looking after Dean very seriously, and the way he acted was almost comical.

"Is the light too bright? Should I close the curtains?"

"Cas," said Dean in a warning tone. "If you don't quit it, I'm going to stick that frigging chair up your ass."

Castiel looked at the chair, then back at Dean. "That would be most uncomfortable," he said seriously, before a tiny smile crossed his face. "But at least I would have something to sit on."

"Whoa," whispered Dean in shock, his hand falling to the bed. "Did you just make a joke?" Looking over at Bobby and Sam, he saw similar expressions of shock. "Cas made another joke."

Castiel looked at the three men a little nervously. "Did I not do it right?"

"Do what right? Say something funny?"

The angel nodded. "Was it amusing?" he asked his friend.

"Yeah. Don't worry, you made a funny joke. Don't make a habit of it, that's my job."

"I thought your job was hunting supernatural beings."

"Well it's not... It doesn't matter. Stop fussing, you're driving me crazy."

"Should I get the doctor? You may need to go up to the psychiatric ward."

Sam had to laugh. "He doesn't mean literally."

"Oh. That is what I mean when I say Dean is confusing... And when he uses sarcasm."

"Not everything is meant in a literal sense," Bobby told him. "When he tells ya to do something like kiss his ass, that's a figure of speech. It's one thing yer going to have to learn if yer going to be around humans a lot... especially Dean."

"You do not have to worry about me kissing Dean's ass, that would be most inconvenient especially since he's laying down. Can he feel that area?"

Dean shook his head and clenched his jaw, his face clouded in misery as he turned away from them, and looked out of the window.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Sam, sitting on the edge of Dean's bed. The past few days, he hadn't stopped worrying about Dean. He worried that Dean wouldn't cope, would become depressed and withdrawn if he had to spend the rest of his life stuck in a wheelchair. The two men and the angel hoped he wouldn't have to; that he would recover and be back on his feet soon.

"Hmm."

"Can we get you anything?"

"Can you get me a new pair of legs?" Dean snapped angrily.

Sam looked at Cas and Bobby helplessly. "I would if I could."

Dean took a deep breath, and released it shakily. "Could you guys... Could you leave me alone for awhile?"

"No way. I'm not leaving you on your own. What if you do something stupid... like... like..." Sam shook his head, refusing to say it.

"Like what? Kill myself? I can't even get out of the frigging bed, what am I going to do, smother myself with the blankets?"

Tears filled Sam's eyes. "Please Dean. We can't leave you alone right now, you need us."

"What I need is a little peace," said Dean sadly, turning to look at his brother. "I just need an hour or two on my own. Since I've been in here, I haven't had a minutes peace. I need a bit of time on my own."

Bobby looked down at the miserable young man laying in the bed, and nodded. "Alright son."

"Bobby," Sam hissed, glaring at him. "We can't leave him."

"He's right, we haven't let him have any time to himself since this happened," he told him, understanding that Dean hated people making a fuss over him, and that was what they had all been doing. "He deserves a little break from us."

Castiel nodded in agreement. "I may not have my full power right now, but I can sense his sadness. I will know if he needs any of us when we're gone."

Sam swallowed the lump in his throat, and stared down at his big brother. "Okay," he finally agreed. "But we're only going down to the cafeteria. I'm not leaving this hospital." He looked down at his watch. "We'll give you about an hour and half... Is that long enough?"

A relieved smile crossed Dean's pale face. "Yeah. Thanks."

"But if you need anything, let the nurses know, you hear me?"

"Yeah."

Sam nodded, and stood from the bed. Bobby and Cas looked at each other, and left the room. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked, reluctant to leave his injured brother on his own.

"I'm sure Sam. I need some alone time right now."

"Okay, but I meant what I said... you need me, tell one of the nurses and she'll come and get me. You're still not a hundred percent recovered from your infection." Sam narrowed his eyes, and pointed at Dean. "And you better not do what you usually do, and suffer alone in silence."

"I'm not going to suffer alone if you don't leave me alone."

"Sorry," Sam whispered, backing away and turning to walk out of the room. At the door, he turned around and looked back at him.

"Sam," sighed Dean. "Stop giving me the kicked puppy look. I'll be okay."

"You better be," said Sam, finally leaving the room.

Finally left in peace, Dean was left alone with his thoughts. He turned his head, and stared out of the window.

"I hate you, you know," he whispered to the window. "If you do exist, and really need me as much as Cas said you do... you wouldn't have done this. I can't save the world if I'm stuck in a bed or a wheelchair. What was the point in telling Cas to get me out of hell if you were going to let this happen."

His voice lowered, his eyes swam with tears. "You should've left me in hell... it would be preferable to living like this," he whispered tearfully.

Dean cried silently, tears falling down his cheeks like a waterfall. It was as if a tap had been turned on inside him, and someone had forgot to turn it off.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he heard a noise at the door, and looked over to see a little girl standing there. "Hello," she said sweetly.

"W-What are you doing here?" he asked, wiping his tears.

"I..." The little girl entered his room, squeezing the teddy in her arms. "I see'd some men go out of your room, and I heard you crying. I don't like where I'm staying... it's sad. Are you sad?"

"No," said Dean, blinking the tears back.

"I used to be sad, but my teddy makes me happy again." She climbed up on one of the chairs at Dean's bedside. "What's your name? My name's Lizzy."

"I'm Dean," he told her, holding his hand out.

Lizzy giggled, and shook his hand, blushing when he kissed the back of it. Her expression turned sad, and she looked down at Dean. "I don't like hospitals."

"Neither do I," whispered Dean like it was a secret.

"Why are you laying in bed? Are you sick too?"

"No... I... uh... I was hurt. I can't move my legs right now."

"I can move mine. Look." Lizzy started kicking her legs against the chair, making Dean smile sadly.

He shifted slightly, to see his visitor properly. "Ugh... Sonofa-" Dean moaned, his wounded back flaring in pain.

"Are you okay? Should I get nurse Amy?"

"W-Who's nurse Amy?"

"She's one of our nurses on the Daffy duck ward. We're sick, and she helps."

Dean gritted his teeth against the pain, and looked at the little girl. "I'm fine, I don't need a nurse."

"Are you going to die?" she asked sadly.

"No, I'm not going to die."

She sighed in relief, and smiled at him. "I'm happy. I don't want you to die."

Dean looked away, his smile fading.

"Are you sad?" the little girl asked again, holding her teddy bear out. "Here. He'll make you not sad no more."

"I'm not sad."

"But you look sad. Hug Captain grumpy pants."

"Captain grumpy pants?" asked Dean, raising one eyebrow.

Lizzy laughed. "Yeah, he looks really grumpy, but he's really happy. Please give him a hug. You'll make me sad again if you don't."

Dean looked down at the teddy, and reached out for it. "Okay, but don't tell anyone," he whispered to her, giving Captain grumpy pants a hug. "Oh wow. You were right, I feel loads more happy now."

"Yay. Do you want me to tell you a joke?"

"Yeah, go on then." Dean would never admit it, but he was glad she had come to see him.

* * *

The little girl stayed and talked to Dean for nearly half an hour. She was funny, and made Dean laugh a couple of times, even though he didn't feel like laughing.

She gasped when she heard two different voices calling for her. "I don't want to go back there, it makes me sad again."

"You're going to have to, sweetheart. If you don't, you'll make the nurses worry about you. Don't forget Captain grumpy pants," he said, holding the teddy out to her.

"No, you hug him for a bit longer," Lizzy told him, getting down from the chair. "You need lots of big hugs because you look really really sad."

Dean looked at her, then down at Captain grumpy pants. "I'm a grown man, I don't need a teddy."

"But you need a hug. Everybody loves hugs." Lizzy walked over to the door, and turned back to look at Dean, just like Sam did. "Bye bye Dean," she whispered sadly, walking out of his room.

Dean held the teddy out in-front of him, and stared at him for at least five minutes.

He looked back at the door, then back at the teddy and made a decision. If he was miserable, and the kids were miserable, then maybe he could do something about it to cheer them all up.

Pressing the call button, he waited for someone to answer it.

* * *

After the hour and half was over, Sam walked back up to Dean's room alone. Both Cas and Bobby let him go up ahead of them to see if Dean was alright.

Walking into his brother's room, Sam froze when he saw Dean wasn't in his bed, and the room was empty. "Dean?" he asked, heart hammering in his chest. He swung around when someone touched his arm.

It was one of the nurses. "Are you looking for your brother? Come with me."

Sam nodded numbly, but followed her to a different floor of the hospital. "Where is he? Is he okay?" he asked, frowning in confusion when he saw pictures of cartoon characters all over the walls and heard the joyful laughter of children.

"Follow the laughter."

Sam's frown deepened, but he did what she told him. His footsteps seemed to echo as he walked towards the door at the end of the corridor. Opening the Daffy duck painted door slightly, Sam looked in and couldn't believe what he saw in-front of him.

His badass big brother was sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the room, holding up two teddy bears- a brown one and a sandy one. Children and a couple of nurses, who were hanging on his every word, surrounded him.

"The children love him already," whispered the nurse behind him, making him jump in surprise. "He already has his own little fan club." When she left Sam on his own, he opened the door further and stepped in.

Dean was telling the kids about the adventures of two teddies called Danny and Stevie. Sam smiled when he heard the voices- 'Dannys' voice was deep and growly, and 'Stevies' was squeaky and high-pitched.

Sam looked around and saw that all of the children- including three from the cancer ward- were listening with eyes as wide as their open mouths.

Dean moved Stevie up and down, and squeaked, 'I the geekiest geek have read the magic scroll, and found out where the evil monster has taken the princess. But you can't go alone, it's too dangerous.' Dean deepened his voice into a growl. 'I am the bravest knight of Winchester. It's my job to save the princess. If you don't want to come, then go back to the castle to braid your girly hair, and sing Kumbaya.'

The children laughed, Sam shook his head in amusement. It was obvious the teddies were supposed to be him and Dean.

Dean grinned at the kids, before changing to his normal voice to narrate the story as he sat the sandy teddy on a blue 'my little pony'. "The handsome brother climbed up onto Impalette, his beloved black horse and went to save princess Chevrolet."

The children gasped and sat forward, totally involved in the story. "Did Danny save her, Uncle Dean?" asked a little bald girl, wearing a pink bandanna.

"Uncle Dean?" Sam whispered to himself. It never ceased to amaze him how wonderful his brother was with kids, they all loved him. And even though Dean would never admit it, he loved kids too.

"Wait and see, sweetheart," Dean told her with a wink, putting the brown teddy down on his lap, and picking up a black one with an eyepatch and a hat. "We all know what to do next."

Seeing the black teddy, the kids 'Booed', which made Dean laugh. "That's right. Anyone remember the bad guys name?"

"ROBERT CASSIOUS!" they yelled in unison.

"Good job. The brave knight rode all day, and finally came to the bad guy's dark dungeon." The black teddy bounced up and down. 'AAAAARRRRR! If it isn't the young knight of Winchester. Prepare to die,' he said, randomly sounding like a drunken pirate.

The teddies struggled, and fought each other. The children all held hands as they watched the hero fighting the bad guy. "Even though Robert was strong and had magic powers, Danny was also strong and kicked some ass... kicked some butt."

Half the kids burst into tears when Danny got hurt, but cheered again when Stevie suddenly appeared to help his brother. The two knights fought the monster until Danny jumped on the black one and stole his hat.

The kids and Sam had to laugh when the bad guy screamed in a high-pitched voice, yelling that he was melting. Sam watched with a worried expression when Dean threw the teddy across the room, then winced and cried out in pain but tried to hide it.

"The evil Robert Cassious was finally defeated. Danny knew a special secret that nobody else knew... " He waved the kids closer. "It was the hat that gave him his special powers and made him strong. But if you took the hat away, he was just as weak as a newborn baby."

Dean picked up another teddy- this one pink. "Now the evil monster was finally defeated, Princess Chevrolet was set free."

"YAAAAAAAAAY!" cheered the kids excitedly.

Dean laughed, and continued. He cleared his throat and spoke in a girly voice. 'Oh my hero', said the princess, kissing Danny on the cheek. 'All in a days work for the knights of Winchester,' answered Danny.

"Danny and the princess travelled back home on the back of Impalette. And the kingdom of Winchester was now safe thanks to the brave knight and his trusty geekboy." Dean bowed his head, and said, "The end."

The kids started clapping and laughing. "That was the bestest story ever, uncle Dean," said a small boy with a grin.

"Yeah," agreed Lizzy. "Can we have another story please?"

"Ooh. Not today, sweetheart." Seeing the disappointment on all of the children's faces, Dean sighed and waved them closer again. "I'll tell you what... If you're all good, and go to your rooms and take your meds then go to sleep when the nice nurses tell you to, I might come back tomorrow... but only if you're all very good."

The children got to their feet immediately, and rushed to their beds as fast as they could. A couple of others walked out with one of the nurses and back to their own room.

As soon as the kids turned away, the smile dropped from Dean's face and he put the teddies down. He jumped when a hand suddenly touched his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Sam smiling down at him.

"You're great with kids, you know."

Dean looked away, and cleared his throat, a slight blush colouring his cheeks.

"Come on, you need some rest," said Sam, grabbing the handles, and turning the chair around to push him out of the room.

The kids waved from their beds. "Bye bye uncle Dean."

"Bye kiddies," Dean called over his shoulder.

"Thanks a lot for coming down today," said the older nurse, placing her hand gently on Dean's shoulder. "It means a lot to the children."

"You're welcome. I enjoyed it," he told her, looking down in surprise when a tiny girl tugged on his hand.

"Can I have a goodnight kiss please, uncle Dean?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course you can darling," he said, so Sam picked her up to gently sit her on Dean's lap.

"Thank you, uncle Dean," she said, hugging him and kissing his cheek. "You maked me happy today."

Dean kissed her forehead. "It made me a little happy too," he told her truthfully.

"I'm going to marry you when I grow up."

"Really? Wow. I guess I'll have to wait for you to grow up then. I'll have the prettiest wife in the world," he said, making her giggle. "Goodnight sweetheart."

The little girl blushed, and gave Dean another kiss before climbing down. "Goodnight."

Dean winced and closed his eyes, the colour draining from his face.

"Come on, let's get you back to your room. You need rest," Sam repeated, wheeling Dean out of the door.

* * *

When Sam brought Dean back into his room, both Bobby and Castiel were standing by the bed.

"Where's he been?"

"He was up on the children's ward, telling them a story about two teddy bears," Sam told him, helping Dean back in the bed.

Bobby blinked in surprise, staring at the two brothers. "He was what?"

Sam laid Dean down, and covered him up before answering. "I came back, and saw the room was empty. The nurse took me to the children's ward, and there Dean was, telling them about Danny and Stevie the teddy bear knights."

"Why were ya up in the children's ward?"

Dean groaned, and shifted slightly. It was agony sitting in the wheelchair for more than two minutes, he was definitely feeling it now. "A little girl c-came in to see me earlier... and s-she said she didn't like it here, it made her sad," he told them, through the pain. "And since I was..."

"You were sad too," Sam finished for him. "So you killed two birds with one stone."

"He killed some birds?" asked Castiel, making Sam and Bobby laugh.

"No. He decided to try and cheer both him and the kids up by telling them a story. Is that right, Dean?"

Dean shrugged, and looked down at his hands.

"Dean, there's no need to be embarrassed. We all know you have a big soft spot for kids. I think it's sweet what you did."

"Did it help?" asked Bobby, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Ugh," groaned Dean in agony. "I suppose so. The kids were a lot happier when I left."

Sam sat beside his brother on the other side, and pressed the call button. "What about you?"

Dean continued staring at his hands, and bit his lip. "A little. It made me smile when I heard them all laugh... but it still doesn't change anything. I still can't..." He looked down at his useless legs laying out in-front of him.

"I know. But whatever happens, you know we'll be right here with you," said Sam, placing his hand over Dean's to stop him fiddling with the blanket.

Before anyone could say anything else, the nurse came in and gave Dean his meds.

As he watched the pain ease from Dean's face, Sam had an idea.

He was going to talk to the kids, and ask them to do something nice for his brother.

**TBC**


	13. Uncle Dean

The next day, Dean was moved from ICU to a normal room.

"There you are honey," said one of the nurses, plumping Dean's pillow while one of the others gave him some medication. "Comfy?"

"Yeah, I'm great," Dean whispered, trying to smile at her, but his heart wasn't in it, and it looked more like a grimace.

"Okay. If you need anything, your family know what to do. One of us will be in here like a shot." After checking the injured young man over, they walked out and left them alone.

As soon as the nurses left, Dean sighed, and started staring miserably out of the window.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked a worried Sam, placing his hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Yeah," Dean muttered, managing to look even more miserable.

Sam sighed sadly, and looked over at Bobby who was standing on the opposite side of the bed. "I need to talk to you."

"What about?" asked Bobby, walking with Sam to the other side of the room, so they could talk quietly.

Castiel stayed with Dean, and sat beside him on the bed. "I will keep you company. Would you like me to get you anything?"

Dean didn't answer, he continued looking out of the window, until his eyelids closed and he fell back to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later, Sam left Bobby and Castiel to look after his brother while he went out of the room to do something.

"Where did he go?" asked a confused Dean.

Bobby smiled down at the bed-ridden hunter. "Not far. He'll be back soon."

Dean turned to Castiel. "Do you know where he's gone?"

"Indeed I do. But I cannot tell you, I have been asked to keep a secret."

"Great," sighed Dean, relaxing against the pillows with a wince. "I guess I have to lay here being bored. I can't even go outside for a walk... or ride, it's raining cats and dogs."

"Is it?" asked Castiel, before rushing over to the window. A disappointed expression crossed his face when he saw the rain. "It doesn't appear to be raining canines and felines. It's raining water."

"Oh god, this angel is a freak. It's a figure of speech, Cas."

"Oh," said the angel, turning back from the window again. "Humans are strange."

"Says the angel who wears a trench coat."

"I mean how you speak. Like when you call someone a chick or sonofabitch. Women are females, not chickens. And the only representation of the word bitch is a female dog, so that implies your mother is a dog."

Bobby chuckled. "Some words have different meanings."

Castiel nodded, looking serious. "I would like to learn more about human speech."

"Well, I guess there's nothing else to do," Dean sighed, gesturing at the chair by the bed for Castiel to sit down.

* * *

They spent over an hour trying to teach the angel to be more human. It was actually quite funny, especially when Castiel tried to speak like Dean.

Dean raised his head from the pillow, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise when the door opened, and some kids came running into the room with pictures and gifts in their hands.

"HIYA UNCLE DEAN!"

Sam followed them into the room, with a nurse from the children's ward behind him. "Hey Dean. How are you doing?"

"What's going on?" asked a confused Dean, looking around at all the little smiling happy faces.

"We've come to see you, uncle Dean," one of the girls told him, climbing up on the bed to give him a hug.

"Be careful," Sam told her, walking closer to the bed. "He has a poorly back, so hug him gently."

"Okay." When the girl pulled back, she said, "Sam told us you were sad. And we wanted to make you happy again. Here."

Dean took the piece of paper in a slightly trembling hand, and smiled when he saw the picture of a rainbow and a small painted hand print with a smiley face. "Oh wow. Look at that, it's awesome Emily."

Emily giggled happily. "Thank you."

"I've got a special hand print too, but it doesn't have a smiley face," he said, lifting his sleeve slightly, so the kids could see his scar.

"COOL!" one of the boys exclaimed, making the other kids laugh.

"Wow. What is it?" asked Emily, reaching out to touch it. "It hurt? Is that why you're in hotipal?"

"No. It doesn't hurt. It's a special tattoo, a friend of mine did it for me," he told her, glancing over at Castiel.

"I want to see uncle Dean. I want to see uncle Dean," said one of the little boys, jumping up and down, waving his picture in the air with the hand not hung up in a sling.

Sam lifted the kid up so he was sitting on Dean's other side. "There we go."

As soon as the little boy was beside Dean, he snuggled up against his side, and showed him the picture of a scribbled figure on a black shape. "Look. It's Danny riding Impy to save the princess."

"Oooh. This is so cool, little dude," said Dean, holding his hand out to high five the little boy.

Sam stood by the bed, watching as another little boy climbed up into the bed to give Dean a hug and a big blue teddy bear. He swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw Dean had tears in his eyes as he hugged the children.

Castiel walked closer to Sam, and said, "Hello dude."

Sam did a double take and stared at the angel. "Er..." He stepped closer to Bobby, never looking away from Castiel. "Did he just call me dude?"

Bobby chuckled. "Yeah. He wanted to learn how to speak more like a normal person, so me and Dean taught him a few things."

"Should I be worried?" asked Sam, continuing to stare at Cas.

"Don't worry. We didn't teach him anything rude."

"Oh thank god," sighed a relieved Sam, looking back at the bed, the big smile returning when Lizzy handed Dean a balloon, before carefully kissing his cheek. "I took some of the kids to the gift shop while the others drew you pictures."

Dean took the string, and looked up at the heart shaped 'Get well soon' balloon. "Thanks sweetheart."

Lizzy giggled, and went all shy. "Did Captain Grumpy pants make you happy?"

"He made me very happy," Dean told her, giving the little girl her teddy back. "But seeing all you guys made me the happiest man in this hospital."

"YAAAAAY!" the children yelled in delight.

The smallest child was lifted onto the bed by Bobby, and he smiled shyly at Dean. "Hiya uncy Dean," he said, giving him a sloppy kiss, making him laugh.

"Thanks Simon. What's this?" he asked, taking what the little boy was holding out to him. It was a painted cereal box with two small ones glued to the sides.

"Pwesent. Awpwane," he said, holding his arms out and making 'neow' noises.

"An airplane? Wow. Did you make it?"

"Nuwsie hewp," said Simon, putting his finger to his lip, and scrunching his little shoulders up.

"It's the best airplane I've ever seen," said Dean, ruffling his blond curls, before giving the model to Bobby, who carefully placed it on the bedside table. "There we go."

Simon giggled happily, and clapped. "Wook nice uncy Dean."

Bobby and Sam watched Dean, who was surrounded by all the kids either sitting on the bed or on the chairs by his bedside. They were all sitting carefully away from Dean's body and legs like Sam had told them as they gave him flowers, chocolates, and teddy bears.

Castiel was also watching the scene in-front of him with his head slightly tilted. It was nice to see Dean interact with children. He had not seen Dean this happy since the awkward time when he tried to help him lose his virginity. All of the children were happy and excited, grinning up at Dean as if he was the best thing since Santa.

"Hey it's my future wife," said Dean, smiling at the next little girl who gave him her picture. Since she couldn't fit on the bed, Sam lifted her up so she could give him a hug. "How you doing, sweetheart?"

The little girl giggled, and blushed, her little freckled nose scrunching up adorably. "Hiya Uncle Dean. I missed you."

"I missed you too," he said with a wink, before looking down at the drawing of a man scribbled in green and a lady in pink. "Is this you and me?"

"Yeah. We're getting married."

"Ooh. I told you I'd have the prettiest wife in the world. It's beautiful, Rachel."

"Thank you uncle Dean," she whispered, still bright red.

Dean leaned over to place the picture on the growing pile, and hid the grimace of pain with a smile.

Sam caught the wince that Dean tried to cover up, and leaned closer to his brother. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a little sore, that's all," Dean admitted reluctantly, shifting slightly.

"Do you want me to take the kids back to their rooms?"

"NOOOOOOO!" cried the children, some of the smaller ones were near tears.

"We want to see uncle Dean," said Emily, trying not to get upset.

Sam bit his lip, and looked at Dean. If his brother was in too much pain, he was going to take them back, he didn't want Dean to push himself too hard, when he was just recovering from an infection.

"No. I'm fine," Dean reassured him, taking the bag of M&Ms another little girl held out. "Oooh. My favourites. And I'm going to share them with my most favourite people."

"You're going to share them with Batman?" asked a confused Castiel.

"Yes Cas. Since I can't walk, I'm going to do a kamikaze dive out of the window, and fly to the batcave using the bed sheet as a magic carpet, and share a bag of M&Ms with Batman," said Dean with an eye roll.

"Okay." Castiel frowned, and managed to look even more confused, before his expression cleared and he looked at Dean with a childlike expression. "Are you being sarcastic again?"

Dean shook his head in amusement. "Of course I am, you freak. All my favourite people are in this room," he said, waving his arm around the hospital room, another wince crossing his face when it made another flare of pain shoot up his back. After opening the bag, he started handing the candy out to the children, before throwing one up into the air, and catching it in his mouth.

The kids all clapped and cheered as if watching a clown in a circus act. Dean handed some M&Ms to Sam, Bobby, Castiel and the nurse, before keeping the rest until later.

He took another 'Get well soon' teddy from a cute little girl with a bandana on, blinking rapidly to get rid of the moisture that was suddenly there. He couldn't believe Sam had asked the kids to do this for him, he was a little overwhelmed.

As Sam and Bobby watched Dean talk to the kids and make a fuss of the presents they had made and bought for him, Sam noticed Castiel walk over to the nurse, and elbowed Bobby in the ribs.

"Hello. You um... You are hot," said the nervous angel, trying to remember something Dean had taught him. He frowned, remembering when he had to help Dean with his fever, and thought that ' _hot_ ' was the same thing. "You... Should I get you some water, to er... cool you down? So you are no longer hot?"

The nurse stared at Cas as if he had grown another head. "Er... No, I'm okay. Thanks."

Dean heard what he said, and face palmed. "Cas, you're a moron. When I said the nurses were hot, I didn't mean that kind of hot. Remember, different meanings."

"Oh," said the angel, shuffling his feet, and looking down at the floor.

Dean, Sam and Bobby all looked at each other and struggled not to laugh at Castiel's attempt at 'flirting'.

"Can we have another story please, uncle Dean?" asked the girl in the bandana, tugging on Dean's hand.

"Yeah. Can we? Can we? Can we?" asked the kids, bouncing up and down on the bed, making Dean cry out in pain.

"Hey hey, stop it," said Sam worriedly, rushing forward again when he saw Dean's eyes were scrunched up with pain, and the little colour he had managed to gain drained from his face. "Dean, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Dean took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to control the pain. He opened his eyes again to see everyone in the room was looking at him with identical worried expressions. "Y-Yeah. I'm... I'm great," he managed through clenched teeth.

Sam's hand drifted down to the call button, and he watched Dean with a concerned expression. "Are you sure? I'll get someone if you're in too much pain."

"No. I'll just tell one quick story."

"But..." Sam broke off when he saw the pleading look in Dean's eyes. It wasn't just for the kids, he wanted to do this for himself too. Sam noticed how happy and alive Dean was when he was around the children, and it was a million times better than him being miserable and depressed, he needed this. "Okay, but only one and then I'll take them back."

"Okay. Just one."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart, and cross my eyes," said Dean, making an X on his chest, and crossing his eyes.

The kids laughed happily. "You wook funny uncy Dean," said Simon, still giggling.

Sam sighed, and opened the plastic bag he had brought in with him. "I brought the teddies just in-case."

Dean took the brown and sandy teddies in his trembling hands. "Alrighty then. Who's ready for a story about the brave teddy bear knight Danny, and his trusty geekboy sidekick Stevie?"

"ME ME ME!" yelled the children in unison, holding their hands up in the air.

Dean cleared his throat and started his story, alternating between his normal voice to narrate, a deep growly voice for Danny, and a high-pitched squeaky voice for Stevie.

The other four grown ups looked at each other and smiled. It was obvious that Dean was loving it almost as much as the little patients were, his eyes shined happily and he grinned whenever the kids laughed, and they wondered if enough laughter and smiles from the children would be enough to save Dean from the depression he was falling into.

"...Stevie was worried when Danny was attacked by the shadowy monster, which was a giant... er... cat. So the brothers had to find a way to save the kingdom of Winchester from the cat monster, whose name was Catsiel," said Dean, looking over at Cas, who was frowning.

"You have mispronounced my name."

"I know. But he's a cat, so he's called CAT-siel. Get it?"

Castiel thought hard for several seconds, before nodding. "I understand. Continue."

"Thanks for the permission," said Dean, picking up Stevie. 'Come on, we have to go and look at the magic scrolls to find a way to kill Catsiel.' He picked Danny up, and deepened his voice. 'No way dude. You're the geekboy, you do all the research, I kick a- er... butt.'

All of the children were hooked, and hanging on his every word.

'But we're a team, there's no 'I' in team,' Stevie squeaked, jumping up and down. 'But there's a 'ME' if you mix up the letters,' growled Danny. 'Come on Danny. We can get this done faster if you help.' Dean was grinning mischievously, as he said the next part, knowing the kids wouldn't understand it. 'There's no 'F' in way.'

Bobby chuckled fondly. Only Dean could use a swear word, and make it suitable for children. He listened as Stevie and their old friend Bob, who was played by captain Grumpy pants, researched the scrolls while Danny guarded the kingdom in-case the cat struck again.

"That night, Danny and Stevie waited in a secret hiding place and waited for Catsiel to turn up. 'Danny, do you see anything?' asked Stevie. 'No, I've gone blind,' said Danny, sitting on the 'my little pony' who was playing Impalette. 'You know what I mean, do you see anything weird?' 'Well, there's you.'

The children laughed and clapped their little hands in delight. "Funny uncle Dean."

"When Catsiel finally showed up, the brothers fought him long into the night," narrated Dean, picking up one of the 'get well soon' bears, since he didn't have a cat. "But the brothers were no match for the 30 foot high monster." 'Okay, what are we going to do?' squeaked Stevie when Danny got clawed. 'We need a plan. What do we do? We're going to die.'

"Oh no," some of the kids whispered, joining hands.

'Wow. Look on the bright side why don't you,' growled Danny, standing back up again. 'Sorry. I never know what to do in a crisis.' 'Yeah, this is definitely a crisis. Actually, it's a twelve-story crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying ' _ **This is a large crisis**_ '.' Dean smiled at the kids. "I've always wanted to say that."

"What happened next uncle Dean?"

"Both brothers were beaten, clawed, and bloodied, but refused to give up. Catsiel pulled a big chunk of Stevie's girly hair out, which left him on the floor weak and unconscious, because his fighting power was in his hair. Impalette neighed and stood in-front of Stevie as the giant cat swooped down a huge paw ready to kill Stevie, but the horse bit him on the paw hard. Bob suddenly turned up with a scroll, and said the magic spell to make him shrink to normal size. Danny then pulled out Zeppelin, his awesome sword, and cut Catsiel's tail off, which killed him. When Stevie woke up, they climbed up onto Danny's trusty horse, and they both rode back to the kingdom of Winchester, so Stevie could get out the guitar and write a melodramatic song about the loss of his beloved hair."

Laughter and applause filled the room as the children cheered. "Yaaay. Stevie and Danny saved the day again, uncle Dean."

Dean ruffled the little girls black hair, careful of the bandage around her head. "Of course they did. The good guys always win."

"Okay, say bye to uncle Dean," said Sam, walking closer to the bed. "He needs to take his meds and get some rest."

Moans and murmurs of disappointment came from the kids, but they did what Sam told them. Each child was very careful as they hugged the injured hunter, before giving him goodbye kisses.

"Bye bye kiddies. Be good for the nurses, and don't forget to take all your meds, they'll help you get better quicker."

"OKAY! BYE BYE UNCLE DEAN!" yelled the kids, waving as they jumped from the bed and chairs.

"Loves you uncle Dean," whispered the girl in the bandana who was called Annabelle, giving him a hug and kiss. Dean gasped, tears swimming in his eyes as he hugged her back.

After sharing hugs and kisses, Sam and the nurse took the kids back to their rooms, leaving Dean with Castiel and Bobby.

"That was an enjoyable story," said Cas, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Bobby could see Dean was wincing in pain, so he grabbed the button and pressed it to get a nurse in. "Someone will be in soon, son."

Dean was silent as he picked up the pile of pictures and looked through them, the tears sliding down his pale cheeks.

* * *

Later, when Dean woke up from a nap, it was to see his room had been decorated with the gifts from the kids.

"Whoa," he breathed, smiling happily as he looked around his decorated hospital room. The 'Get well soon' balloons were floating on each side of his bed, teddies, flowers, boxes of chocolates, models and a big gift basket Sam had got from all the children were placed on available surfaces, and the walls were covered in the pictures they had drawn and painted for him.

Bobby was glad Sam had this idea, it had definitely cheered Dean up.

"Thanks Sammy."

"You're welcome, big brother. I knew you'd like it. You were the same with them yesterday, you big kid," said Sam, sitting with him. "You loved it as much as they did."

"Do you think they liked it?"

"Are you kidding? They absolutely loved it," said Sam, placing his hand gently over Dean's. "And they love their uncle Dean."

Dean swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "It's because I'm awesome," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, you are. And you're going to get better," said Sam, squeezing his hand. "Even if you don't, I'll be right here."

"We all will," Bobby added.

Dean nodded, and looked around the decorated room once again with a big smile.

**TBC**


	14. Bored

As soon as Dean opened his eyes, he put his right hand under the covers, and squeezed the top of his leg slightly, but nothing happened, it was like touching someone elses leg, one that couldn't feel or move- and might not ever again. He looked down at his useless legs in disgust, and let out a low moan, sinking into the pillows. He wanted the strength to scream and shout and break things, but instead he flung his arm over his eyes, his breath hitching, his chest heaving as he struggled to control his emotions. "Dammit."

Sam was standing close to the bed, watching him wake up, and his heart broke for him. When Dean removed his arm, he looked over at Sam, but the younger man quickly looked away, not wanting Dean to see his tears.

Clearing his throat, Sam pasted on a smile, and stepped closer to the bed. "What's wrong?"

Dean was silent for several seconds, looking at the colourful pictures decorating the walls. "Do you sometimes wish that dreams were real?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"I had a dream. I was walking and... I was walking, Sam. My legs worked, and I could feel them again. I kept walking in-front of a mirror, just to see myself walk."

Sam placed his hand on Dean's shoulder, and squeezed gently.

"I kept wiggling my toes, and squeezing my leg, just because..." Dean sniffled as tears started falling. "It seemed so real, I took my boots off and walked on the grass, it had been raining, and the grass was cold and wet, and it tickled my toes. It was the best feeling ever."

"It sounds like a great dream."

"Yeah. I wish I didn't have to wake up. Sometimes I wish they'd cut my legs off, because seeing them, but not being able to move them or walk is like torture or something. They're right there, but they... they don't do anything. It's like I've only got half my body." Dean angrily brushed his hand over his face, wiping the falling tears. "I..."

"You what?" asked a worried Sam.

"I'd give anything just to be able to stand up," he whispered, as he smiled sadly at Sam. "That's kind of pathetic isn't it?"

"Of course not," replied Sam, suddenly feeling guilty as he stood beside the bed. He quickly sat down, his heart breaking even further that he could stand, walk, run, even do a flying leap across the room if he wanted to and Dean couldn't even get out of his bed. Sam swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, and blinked away his tears, not wanting to get upset in-front of Dean- he had to stay strong for him.

Sometimes Sam really wished he could find the person who had shot Dean, so he could wait until his back was turned and shoot him like he did with his brother. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts, and placed his hand over Dean's. "Anyone in your situation would feel the same. Hell, if this happened to me, I wouldn't exactly take the news that I might not ever walk again all that great. But you really are the strongest person that I have ever known... you're also stubborn. And I know you can get through this, whether you have to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair or you recover. I'll always be here for you."

"But I don't want to be a burden Sam."

"You'll never be a burden, and just because you can't walk, doesn't mean you'll ever be helpless. You've taken care of me my whole life, it's my turn to take care of you. But knowing you, you'll probably be walking out of here in no time. Even if you don't... you can always go wheelchair joy riding."

Dean gave a surprised laugh at that.

"Ooh. I know, I could find another wheelchair from somewhere and we could have wheelchair races when we're bored," he suggested, grinning when Dean laughed again. "Or if we go somewhere they don't allow wheelchairs, I can give you a piggyback."

"You're a freak." With a sniffle, he wiped the remaining tears staining his cheeks with a trembling hand. "What about my baby? What if I never drive her again? Never walking again is bad enough, but not being able to drive my baby... I don't... I can't do that, Sam."

"You won't have to. You can modify a car with hand pedals instead of the normal foot ones. If this is permanent, you will be able to drive again."

"Really?" asked Dean, looking up at Sam with huge hopeful eyes that shined with tears.

"Of course you can. I wouldn't lie to you about something like that. When we were down in the cafeteria that day you wanted some peace, I did some research on whether you could still drive, because I knew that if you couldn't walk or drive, it would kill you... Not literally, but you know what I mean."

Dean cleared his throat, and wiped his eyes again. "Sorry about being a drama queen."

"Don't be silly. It's what I'm here for. If you ever want to talk or cry or whatever, I'm always here to listen. It's what brothers are for," Sam told him as he gave his hand another squeeze.

Before Dean could reply, Castiel appeared in the room with one hand behind his back. "Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas. What are you hiding?" asked Dean, taking a few deep breaths, trying to get himself under control.

Castiel gave a tiny smile and brought out his hand to reveal a plate with a small piece of pie. "I thought you might be hungry."

Dean stared at him. "Pie? You bought me pie?"

"Yes. I know you do not like the food they have here. And you are thin."

"Are you saying I used to be fat now?"

"No. I mean that you have lost weight since your stay in hospital, I would estimate 11 pounds. I sensed you were sad again, and Bobby told me that pie is one thing that cheers you up, so I thought I would get you some. I wanted to do something to make you happy."

"Thanks Cas. You're awesome," said Dean, as Sam pressed the button to lift the bed up slightly so he could eat without choking.

Castiel nodded, and placed the plate carefully in-front of Dean. "I would have brought one of the magazines you like and some beer, but Bobby told me those things are... inappropriate in a hospital."

Dean laughed around a mouthful of pie. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Are you happy now?"

Dean looked up at Castiel, who looked back at him with wide blue eyes. "I'm not exactly ecstatic, but I guess I'm a little happier than I was," he said, chewing the pie with a moan of pleasure. "I've missed pie."

Sam smiled over at the angel, who was watching Dean with a fond expression. He was glad Castiel had done this for Dean, since he started spending time with the children he didn't seem to be as depressed, but he wasn't exactly happy happy joy joy either.

"This pie is awesome. Where did you get it from?"

"A store."

"Yeah, thanks Cas. I mean... Where?"

"Everywhere. I wanted to find the place where they made the best pie... and this was the best I could find."

"You went everywhere to buy me some pie? You didn't have to do that, you know. Any pie would do."

"I know. But I wanted you to have the best," said the angel, a slight blush colouring his cheeks. "I also wanted you to be happy. I do not like to see you sad."

"Continue buying me pie, I'll be the happiest person in the world."

* * *

Later, Dean was completely bored. There was only so much to do while being stuck in a bed not being able to move.

As soon as Dean announced that he was bored, Bobby rushed out of the room and they hadn't heard from him since.

Castiel was confused as to why Bobby would leave the room when Dean needed his family around him at a time like this and asked Sam why he left.

"He's probably gone to find something to keep Dean occupied. Believe me you don't want to be around a Dean who is seriously bored."

"Why wouldn't I? I would not leave my friend in his time of need."

Sam shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you, but the last time Dean was this bored, he braided my hair while I was asleep," he said, his fingers unconsciously combing through his hair.

"When did I... Oh yeah. I may also have been slightly drunk."

"Slightly?"

"Yeah. But mostly bored." Dean turned to the angel. "Cas you should've seen him, it was hilarious."

"No it wasn't. It looked like I had dreadlocks. It took me an hour to sort it out."

"And that's different from any normal day, how?"

Sam mock-glared at him. "It doesn't take me an hour to do my hair."

"I know, it takes about two."

"Shut up you jerk," said Sam fondly, gently hitting Dean in the shoulder. "Oh how could I forget the time he was pretending to be a car? He annoyed the hell out of me for over two hours with that one. He suddenly out of nowhere started making revving noises and when he came to a stop, he started screeching like he was slamming on the brakes... in a library. When he walked he had to indicate which direction he was going by winking. The first time he did it the old librarian walked by and thought Dean was coming on to her... That was hilarious. Before that he started quoting every western movie that John Wayne and Clint Eastwood were ever in. I swear if he ever says 'Pilgrim' again, I'm going to strangle him. It's annoying watching Jo..."

"Dude. I told you before, you say one wrong thing about the Duke and I'm going to break your nose with that bedpan and then shave your hair off."

"Sorry," said Sam, his hand once more returning to his hair.

"Never apologise- it's a sign of weakness," he quoted with a grin. "Young fella, if you're lookin' for trouble I'll accommodate ya. I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted... "

With a sigh, Sam got his phone out and handed it to Dean. "Here. I've got some games on that you can play, so you won't be bored... or quote John Wayne."

"Cool. Thanks Sammy," said Dean, taking the phone. "Holy crap, you got space invaders. I used to fricking love this game."

"What is space invaders?"

"It's a video game from years ago, and you can get them on your phone. Ha take that you bitch," said Dean, thumbing the button repeatedly.

"We're safe for awhile."

He played space invaders for almost 30 minutes, before turning it off, and he started reading something that was apparently hilarious.

Sam looked over at Dean when he started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Dude. Did you know that there's a place in England called Wetwang?" asked Dean, before he started laughing again.

"What the hell are you reading?"

"I'm looking at a list of places with funny names. Boring... I think I've been there. Gayville? Hey Sam, the perfect place for you."

Sam rolled his eyes, and tried to take his phone back. "Give me that you freak."

"Penistone. Ha, It says penis," laughed Dean, moving down the list.

"How old are you again?" asked Sam, lips twitching as he tried not to smile as he watched Dean laughing. It had been a long time since he had seen his brother truly laugh and he enjoyed it for as long as he could.

"Intercourse? Seriously, who names these places?"

"You by the sound of it." Sam shifted closer to him, and pointed at one of the places. "Looneyville. You should move there."

Dean laughed again as he continued through the list. "Blowhard. I used to know someone like that at school, he was a total jackass."

Castiel watched the brothers sitting close together, reading something on Sam's phone, and laughing. He didn't understand what was so amusing, but it was nice to see the injured hunter having fun and smiling, even though Castiel could see that it caused him pain.

Dean continued looking through the list until the battery on Sam's phone died. He laughed until it felt as if his back was on fire. When he finally stopped laughing, he leaned back against the pillows with a moan of pain.

Sam, knowing how much pain he was in by his expression, pressed the button to summon a nurse.

"Hey there handsome," said a young nurse as she walked into the room. After checking Dean over, she gave him some much-needed pain relief and left them alone.

Dean turned to stare out of the window as the rain pounded harshly against the glass window. "I'm so bored," he whined with another sigh.

"Why don't you watch some TV?"

"On what? That thing over there?" he asked, gesturing over to the small TV mounted to the wall. "Sure. Bring it over here, I'll tape it to my eyeballs."

"It's not that small."

"Sam, the screen is like an inch big. My cell phone screen is probably bigger than the TV screen. It makes everyone look like Danny Devito."

"Who is Danny Devito?" asked a confused angel, tilting his head questioningly.

"He's an actor. He's... short."

Dean didn't pay any attention to the other men. "When can I go home? I hate being stuck here."

"The doctor said you're not ready to go home yet. He wants you to stay here for another week... at least."

The injured hunter slumped further against his pillows as he continued staring out of the window. "This bites wind."

Sam and Castiel turned to look at each other. "This bites wind?" they asked in unison.

"I swear, Staying in this place for another week is going to drive me crazy."

"Well, you don't have to drive very far."

Dean turned to glare at him. "Haha. Very funny."

"Why don't we do something so Dean is no longer bored?" Castiel suggested.

"Like what? This is a hospital, it's not exactly a place where we can have wild parties."

Bobby walked into the room carrying some board games, magazines, a CD player with a few mixed CDs he had made for Dean, a portable DVD player and some movies. "To stop Dean from being bored and causing havoc. I remember once when he was bored at my place, he flooded the house, and later claimed he was trying to make an ice skating rink in the living room. A feverish Dean who is also bored, is very... imaginative. Not to mention, insane."

"How was he planning on freezing the water to make ice?" asked a confused Castiel.

"Apparently he was going to turn the air conditioner on high to turn the water to ice. Don't ask where the idjit got that idea from."

"That was classic. Don't forget my fort made out of beer bottles and candy canes. Now that was awesome."

Sam frowned, not remembering any of this. "When did all this happen?"

"The flooding incident happened when he was about 12 or 13 and he was unfortunately bored and the fort was when ya were at college," Bobby told him, carefully placing the items on Dean's bed, being careful not to put them on his legs. "Here we go. Some games to keep ya occupied."

"I'm not five."

"You act like it when you're bored." Sam set up the CD player and put in one of the discs, turning it up slightly when 'back in black' came on.

As he laid there, Dean smiled as he watched the people he considered family do everything they could just to cheer him up and stop him from being bored. He also knew that another reason for them all doing this was to take his mind off his injury and the fact that he might not ever move his legs and that made him love them a little bit more.

"Operation. I used to love this game," said Sam, picking up the box.

"Operation? Seriously?" asked Dean, raising one eyebrow. "Can we play something that doesn't involve being a hospital patient and an operation. I want to take my mind off those things not be reminded of it."

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry Cas? You haven't done anything."

"No, I mean why don't we play Sorry?" he asked, lifting the box up and showing it to Dean.

Dean rolled his eyes and shifted carefully. He clenched his jaw as the movement caused more pain in his injured back. "Sonofa-" he moaned, wincing in pain.

"Are you alright?" asked a worried Sam, dropping the box that he was holding. "Do you want me to bring the nurse in?"

"One came in about five minutes ago. Do you want me drugged up to the eyeballs?" asked Dean, settling back against the pillows. "Set it up."

"What, the nurse coming in?"

"No you freak. The game."

"Okay." Bringing the bed tray closer to the bed, Castiel started setting up the board, while Sam and Bobby helped Dean sit up comfortably against the pillows.

"Is that better?" asked Sam, plumping the pillows a few more times.

"Yeah. Thanks." He looked at Castiel who was slowly putting the rest of the games away. "Hurry it up. We're burnin' daylight," he quoted with an impatient gesture.

After several minutes, Sam and Castiel stood back from the bed. "We're ready."

Dean stopped humming along to the song that was playing, and looked down at the game, frowning when he saw the monopoly board. "I thought we were playing sorry."

"We changed our mind, we're now playing monopoly."

"Yeah, I guessed that."

Sam began passing out the money, explaining the gist of the game to Castiel as he did so.

"I want to be the dog," said Dean, reaching over for the little silver dog. "You guys can be whoever, I'm the dog. I think I'll call him Clint."

"Quick, hurry up before he starts quoting Clint Eastwood," said Sam, shooting forward to grab the little hat.

After everyone had picked a piece, they all sat on the bed, being careful not to sit on Dean's legs. Since he couldn't feel them, they each had to pat the covers down so they knew where his legs were so they didn't accidentally sit on him.

"Dean, you go first," said Sam, handing his brother the dice so he didn't have to lean forward.

"Okie dokie." Dean carefully threw the dice, which showed a three, so he moved his piece three spaces and landed on Baltic Avenue. "Ooh. I'm buying this. Cas, if you land on my property, you have to pay me rent."

"Um..." Castiel looked confused, but he nodded and looked over at Sam.

"Don't worry. If you get stuck or confused, ask me or Bobby."

"Okay." As they played, the angel watched the others as he tried to get the hang of the game. It wasn't as hard as he thought, and he was soon enjoying himself.

Even Dean was enjoying himself, which was weird since he wasn't usually a monopoly fan. But it was probably more to do with spending some fun time with his family rather than the game itself.

"Sonofabitch," said Dean as he drew a card twenty minutes into the game. "Go straight to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200." He scowled as he picked up 'Clint' and moved him to the spot marked 'Jail.' "Hey Sammy, come and bust me out."

"The game doesn't work that way, Dean."

"Come on, we had a pact. One of us gets arrested, the other busts them out."

"That's real life Dean, not a game of monopoly," said Sam, rolling the dice.

"But Saaaaaammmmmy. Ooh ooh, Bobby. You own the electric company. You can shut the power off while I make a great escape. And believe me, it'll be great."

"No. This ain't like real life, ya got to get out legit."

"You big meanie," pouted Dean, but he started grinning when the familiar voice of Freddie Mercury started singing 'I want to break free'. He couldn't have planned it better. "Was that epic timing or what?"

When it was Castiel's turn, he landed on the Chance space. He drew a card and read it out loud. "'Get out of jail free.' That is odd. I am not in jail."

"It's for the game. Hey, can I buy it off you? I'm still stuck in jail here. And... I want to break free. I want to break freeeeeee."

"Of course," he said, handing over the card.

"Thanks Cas. You're awesome," grinned Dean, handing over some money so 'Clint' could get out of jail.

Bobby chuckled. "Yer like a big kid," he said, as he moved his car to Vermont Avenue and decided to buy the property.

Dean shifted slightly, trying not to wince at the pain it caused as he was next to roll the dice.

They all played for over an hour, before Dean's attention span started to reach its end. Bobby owned most of the property on the board, seven properties were owned by Dean, three by Sam and one by Castiel, who took the ownership of his property very seriously much to everyone's amusement.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing most of the board games and some card games, the room was filled with the music of Dean's favourite songs and laughter of the little family, even Castiel had laughed once or twice and had smiled several times. During the evening they played Charades, and the two men and the angel tried to make it as fun as possible and kept making Dean laugh.

The laughter was music to their ears, and each wanted to make it happen as much as they could. If he was laughing and having fun, that meant he wasn't thinking about his useless legs and falling back down the dark well of depression, so none of them minded acting like complete morons if it made Dean laugh like that. They had to call in the nurse a couple of times when the laughing caused severe pain to his back, but that didn't stop them from having fun.

It was now Dean's turn. He silently told them it was a movie, with one word, before pointing at himself.

"Er...The jerk?" suggested Sam, making them all laugh.

"Jackass?" was Bobby answer.

Castiel tilted his head slightly, and guessed "Batman?"

Dean grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Awesome job Cas. Your turn."

"Okay." Castiel stood from the bed and adjusted his trench coat.

"Columbo?"

The angel stopped and looked at Dean with a confused expression. "I have not started yet."

"Oh. Go on then."

"Very well." He looked at Sam for help, so the younger Winchester stood up and showed him the hand movements again. Since Castiel didn't fully understand the game, he always had either Sam or Bobby acting with him to show him what to do.

This time Bobby joined in with them and they all started acting weird and silly. Dean raised his eyebrows and wondered if he should ask the nurses to contact the psych ward to get the three loonies locked up.

"Seriously, it's like watching the three stooges or something."

The three of them stopped and Sam gave him a thumbs up. "You got it. Your turn."

Dean was smiling as he shook his head. "You're all crazy," he said, before silently telling them it was a person. He was still for a minute while he thought of what to do, before he started flipping his hair back and giving them a bitch face and then a sad face.

"It's got to be Sam," said Bobby with a laugh.

With a grin, Dean gave him a thumbs up and nodded.

"Hey, I do not do all those things," said Sam, giving them all the classic bitch face, and shaking his head slightly to get the hair out of his eyes, looking just like Dean did a minute ago.

Dean laughed and gestured in Sam's direction. "See? Was that an awesome impression or what?"

"That was very much like Sam," Castiel agreed as Bobby stood up for his turn.

While he watched Bobby silently telling him what it was, Dean relaxed back against the pillows and looked around the room at the people who were his family.

He was lucky he had these people in his life, and was glad they were all here for him. As long as he needed them, Dean knew they would always be there and he wouldn't change that for the world.

**TBC**


	15. Wishful thinking?

Dean was once again surrounded by the kids from the children's ward. With Castiel's help, he was telling another story about the teddy bear knights as they fought an army of evil skeletons led by the evillest one of all- Skeletellen.

"...Danny was suddenly surrounded by six different skeletons, their teeth chattering as they advanced on him. As the chattering grew louder, Danny shifted his stance and adjusted his hold on Zeppelin, his trusty sword and when they were close enough, he moved as fast as lightning and swung his sword in a circle, cutting all their heads off in one swing."

Castiel was holding all the 'get well soon' teddies around the sandy teddy, and when Dean nodded to him, he let them all go so they fell to the bed.

"With the last of the skeletons gone, they only had to face the dreaded Skeletellen. Danny climbed up onto Impalette, but before they could go to the castle of bones, a giant dog called Dogzilla suddenly appeared behind Danny..." He nodded at Cas again, who picked up a stuffed dog. "...And clawed his back with one giant paw."

"Oh no," gasped a small girl called Annabelle.

"As Danny fell from Impalette's back, Stevie ran forward and caught his injured brother in his arms. After several attempts at waking him failed, Stevie lifted him back onto Impalette's back and he climbed up to guide the horse back to the kingdom of Winchester to help the fallen knight."

"Is Danny okay, uncle Dean?"

"Don't worry, Emily. The good guys always take hits, but they don't stay down. Unfortunately Danny's injures were worse than they thought and the brave knight was in a deep sleep as the giant dog wrecked havoc on the kingdom and the towns surrounding it. Since their toughest knight was out of action and Stevie refused to be parted from him, Bob decided to unleash one of the kingdoms own giant animal knights to battle against it."

Dean picked up a stuffed cat. "Metallicat. Danny's faithful pet, who was a black panther, he was 20 foot tall and had the strength and toughness to match his owner. That night as most of the kingdom slept, the two giants fought- one in revenge for a dead friend- Catsiel, and the other in revenge for a fallen knight."

Sam laughed as Dean and Castiel started having a teddy bear fight, looking like a pair of five year olds. He looked around and saw all the children watching with wide eyes, their little faces lit up as if they were watching their favourite TV show.

"They fought long into the night and both had their fair share of injuries. Just as Dogzilla was about to kill Metallicat, they both heard the familiar deep voice of the injured knight. 'Hey fugly. Is this a private party or can anyone join in?'"

The children cheered when Dean picked up the brown and sandy teddies, who were both on their horses- Impalette and Plymoutha. Swords swung, claws slashed and arrows flew as the four fought.

"So they were evenly matched, Danny climbed down from Impalette and approached his faithful pet, who bowed before his master. Danny climbed up onto his back with his two swords, Zeppelin and Sabbath to even the score. A long battle ensued..." Dean and Castiel started doing battle with the teddies again, much to everyone's amusement. "As Dogzilla struck once more Stevie played dead and as the dog celebrated, Danny swung his two swords and stabbed him in both eyes, blinding him. As he staggered around, Metallicat swung one massive paw, finally killing his enemy and ending the war."

"YAAAAAAAY!" the kids cheered happily, making the injured hunter smile.

Everyone in the room listened as Dean told them about the brothers finally finding the skeleton queen. This time it was Stevie who saved the day when the evil skeleton re-injured Danny's back, he grabbed his bow and shot her with his silver arrows, making Skeletellen collapse in a heap of bones.

"After salting and burning the bones so she would never come back, Danny and Stevie made their way to the dungeon to rescue the princess." Picking up the pink teddy, Dean spoke in a high pitched voice. 'My heroes', he squealed, making the teddy kiss the two knights on the cheeks. "As the sun went down over the horizon, Danny, Stevie, Princess Chevrolet, Metallicat, Impalette and Plymoutha made their way back to the kingdom of Winchester to live happily ever after... or until the next time the princess was kidnapped. The end."

The room erupted into yells and cheers of delight as the children celebrated making the grown ups laugh and smile at their excitement.

Dean was smiling as he laid back against the pillows and watched the kids celebrate. He really loved hearing the children laugh and seeing them smile and it was even better that he was the one who made it happen. It made his own darker days seem so much brighter.

"Don't forget Cas. He helped me with all the extra characters."

The children started cheering and clapping again, making the angel blush.

After having hugs and kisses from the children, Sam and the nurses took them back to the children's ward. As Lizzy climbed down from the bottom of the bed, her arm fell from underneath her and she accidentally landed awkwardly on Dean's foot with her full weight.

"Oopsie," she said, climbing safely down from the bed.

Dean gasped when he actually felt it, and his eyes teared up. It was very faint, like a mouse running over his leg, but there was no doubt that he felt the little girl land on his foot.

Bobby frowned worriedly at him. "Are ya alright?"

"I... I..." Dean was speechless, and just shook his head.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I... Uh... I think I felt Lizzy land on my foot," he whispered, staring down at his foot.

"Are ya sure?"

"Yeah. I think... Yeah."

Bobby smiled and started pressing the button to summon the doctor or a nurse.

Dr Hayder, Dean's new doctor, was on his way to Dean's room, and entered as Bobby was pressing the button for the third time. "Is everything alright?"

"Dean said he felt a touch to his foot," Castiel told him, standing by Dean's bedside.

"Okay. This is wonderful news."

When Sam walked back into the room it was to see the doctor standing at the bottom of Dean's bed with the blankets lifted slightly so he could see his feet. "What's going on?"

"Dean felt his foot," Bobby told him.

Sam smiled as he walked over to stand by Dean's side. "Really? That's great news."

"Can you feel this?" Dr Hayder asked, gently running his finger down Dean's foot.

Sam, Bobby and Castiel were standing around the bed, watching the emotions play across Dean's face. Each of them held their breaths and had their fingers crossed, hoping the answer was yes.

But Sam's heart broke when Dean's face crumpled and he looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

Dean could see the doctor touching his foot, but could no longer feel anything. He raised his head slightly to see if the doctor was actually touching the bottom of his foot and not the blankets or the bed.

When he saw that Dr Hayder was actually touching his foot, but he couldn't feel it, he shook his head, tears filling his eyes again, this time in sadness. "I... I can't... I swear I felt her on my foot. I..." He closed his eyes and struggled to keep his emotions in check.

"Maybe you thought you felt it. People with amputated or paralysed limbs sometimes say they still feel the limb. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking. You want something to happen so much that your brain tricks your body into believing it felt something. This could be the same feeling."

Sam frowned and placed his hand gently over Dean's. "Are you saying he imagined it?"

"I didn't imagine it. I felt Lizzy's weight on my foot... I felt it," Dean whispered quietly to himself.

"I'm saying that he wants so much to feel his legs again, and he did but it... just wasn't real."

"So... yeah."

"Not necessarily..."

Sam squeezed Dean's hand when he felt it trembling slightly. "Can you leave us alone for awhile?"

"Of course. You know what to do if he needs anything."

Finally left alone, the three men surrounded Dean in his moment of need.

"Dean? Are ya alright son?" asked Bobby, worried about how silent Dean was. The young man was never silent, and when he was, it was something to worry about.

Dean was quiet for several minutes, before grabbing the glass from the bedside table. "SONOFABITCH!" he yelled, throwing the glass to the other side of the room where it shattered against the wall.

The action caused pain to engulf his entire back, but he was too upset and pissed off to notice. He then grabbed Sam's phone and threw that too.

"DEAN!" yelled Sam, sitting on the edge of Dean's bed, and taking his hands in both of his to stop him from wrecking the room. "Stop it, you're going to hurt yourself."

"WHO CARES?" he yelled, struggling to get his hands free so he could grab something else.

"I care you idiot." He tightened his hold on Dean's hands, and noticed a single tear escape down his cheek. "Hey it's okay."

"No it's not," Dean sobbed, more tears breaking loose and swimming down his cheeks.

"Oh Dean," whispered Sam. This was the first time he had seen his big brother truly break down. He had shed a few tears, but had never cried like this and it was heartbreaking.

"Come here." Sam wrapped Dean carefully in a hug. "Shh. It's okay. I've got you. Shh," he soothed, ignoring his own tears.

Dean couldn't muster enough strength to pull away. He slumped against Sam's chest, and lifted his trembling arms and hugged him just as tightly. He rested his head against Sam's shoulder and let out all the emotion he had bottled up. Dean could hear Sam's soft voice as he tried to comfort him, and he could feel Sam's wet cheek against his own as his tears fell continuously from his eyes and formed a mist of water that made his sight turn blurry. He pushed harder into Sam's embrace, and closed his eyes and the tears continued falling from his closed eyelids, and slowly traced lines down his cheeks.

Ignoring the spreading wet patch on his shirt, as his hand stroked calming circles on Dean's back, Sam felt as if something inside him was cracking, breaking as he held his distraught brother in his arms.

Bobby bit his lip and blinked his own tears away. Since he had met the little boy all those years ago, he could probably count on one hand the number of times that he had seen Dean break down. Dean was the strongest person that he knew, and to see him like this was probably the worst thing he had ever witnessed.

Castiel felt something he had never felt before- sadness. He felt as if his vessel's heart was being squeezed and he felt a strange sensation in his eyes and when he reached up to touch his cheek, he felt some moisture. Frowning in concern, he turned to Bobby. "I think I have sprung a leak."

Bobby turned to the angel, looking confused at the random statement and saw the wetness under Castiel's blue eyes. "They're tears. Yer crying."

"But I do not cry."

"Well, ya do now."

"I was watching Dean cry, and I had this strange sensation in my chest. I have never felt it before... it was unusual." Castiel noticed the tear-filled eyes of the older man. "You feel it too. Is it contagious?"

"It's called emotion. When ya see Dean like this, it just breaks yer heart, and ya can't help but feel it too."

Castiel nodded and wiped the remaining wetness away as he looked back down at the Winchesters. Sam cradled the back of his brother's head, his fingers stroking through his hair, and rocking gently as he tried to comfort him.

Bobby laid his hand on Dean's shoulder in support. Dean tensed up at the touch, but his sobbing increased and his hands gripped Sam's shirt, clinging onto him as if he was a life preserver.

Not knowing how to comfort humans, Castiel sat beside Dean on the bed, and started patting his head as if he was a dog. "It's okay Dean."

Soon the only sounds in the room were Sam's whispers, and Dean's breath hitching and hiccuping as he sobbed, his chest heaved against Sam's, his big green eyes streamed tears, like from a wound that can never be fully healed.

* * *

When everyone had regained control of their emotions, Dean was exhausted from his crying fit, not to mention embarrassed. His face was bright red and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy. He accepted the tissues that Sam was holding out to him and dried his eyes.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes, until Bobby cleared his throat. "Are ya alright son?"

Dean turned tearful eyes up to his family. "I didn't imagine it. I really did feel it. I'm not crazy."

"We know," whispered Sam. "If you say you felt it, I believe you."

"Me too."

"I believe you also," added Castiel.

"I just wish I could do something to help you," sighed Sam with a sniffle.

"Ya could always try praying to God. If ya still believe in him."

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I do anymore," he said, looking at Dean. "But I still pray sometimes. I mean after all you've done, all the lives you've saved and the sacrifices you've made and he can't repay you back by healing you when you need him the most."

Castiel moved to the bottom of the bed and removed the covers again. "If you felt it once, you may be able to feel it again. Try to move your toes."

Dean looked at the angel as if he was crazy. "If I couldn't when the doctor was here, I doubt I could now."

"Do it," said Castiel with a serious expression and narrowed eyes. He looked back down at Dean's feet, to the others it looked as if Cas was trying to will his feet to move just by staring at them.

Dean sighed and concentrated on trying to move his toes, putting all his strength into the movement, but his heart sank once again when they didn't move the slightest bit. He cleared his throat and tried to stop the tears from falling again.

"Maybe the doc was right," Dean said quietly. "What if I did imagine it? I wanted to feel something so much... the smallest chance that someday I would be able to move, and I just..." He shook his head. "I guess I really will be stuck in a chair for the rest of my life."

Sam was sat quietly, remembering something that the doctor told them. "What if it wasn't wishful thinking? What if you really did feel it?"

"Don't Sam. I don't think I could cope with getting all my hopes up, just for it all to fall back down again."

"No really. The bullet clipped your spine and there was swelling around the area. What if that swelling is starting to go down?" Sam looked like an excited child at Christmas. "The doctor said that one of the reasons of the paralysis could be the swelling. If it's going down, then you might start slowly regaining the feeling in your legs. You may still recover."

Dean turned to look up at Bobby with a hopeful expression. "Could he be right?"

Bobby shrugged. "Could be. We'll have to ask the doctor when he next comes in."

"No. I can't wait that long," said Sam, reaching for the button.

When the doctor arrived in the room, he took in all the tear stained faces and hopeful expressions. "Is everything okay?"

Sam took a deep breath and told him his idea, hoping it didn't sound ridiculous to the doctor.

After Sam finished talking, Dr Hayder surprised them all by smiling. "You know what? I never even thought of that," he said, and picked up Dean's notes and searched through them, reading everything that Dean's previous doctor and nurses had written. "I've got so many new patients, that sometimes I have a hard time remembering who is who. From these notes, Dr Richards did write that one of the causes of Dean's paralysis could be the swelling, therefore the paralysis could be temporary."

Sam started grinning and he squeezed Dean's hand tightly. "So he really could've felt it? He could walk again?"

"That is possible. I'll schedule some testing first thing tomorrow morning, which will include some more X-rays and scans." The doctor looked at Dean with a serious expression. "Even if your brother is right, and the swelling is the cause, then it could still take awhile for you to regain full feeling in your legs. It's not like in a movie or soap opera where you feel one touch and you're suddenly able to leap out of bed and run around like Speedy Gonzales on drugs."

Dean smiled. "Yeah. I know that."

"You're still going to need to continue the physical therapy to strengthen the muscles in your legs. If the swelling really is going down and all the tests are positive then when you're ready Rick can start helping you get back on your feet. Of course that's getting a bit ahead of ourselves since we haven't done the X-rays and scans yet, but if it's good news..." The doctor smiled at the happy look on Dean's face. In the short time that Dean had been on this ward, he had grown to like the small family and really hoped that the tests revealed good news.

When he checked Dean over and gave him some medication, he nodded to them with a smile and left the room.

"See? You could still walk again," said Sam, still grinning.

"Yeah," whispered Dean, looking down at his legs in shock. He suddenly smiled mischievously at them. "Hey, if I do eventually end up walking out of here, that'll mean the three musketeers will be back in business and kicking ass," he said, gesturing at himself, Sam and Cas.

"More like the three stooges," said Bobby, making the two Winchesters laugh, while Castiel looked confused.

* * *

It was that evening when Bobby was catching up on some much needed sleep in the spare bed in the room. Sam was sitting beside Dean on the bed, so close that their shoulders were touching, watching the tiny TV that was mounted up on the wall.

Dean was quiet for awhile, before finally speaking. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" asked Sam, looking at Dean.

"What if it's not good news tomorrow?"

"Don't think like that. You'll just upset yourself again."

"I'm not. I just don't want to get all my hopes up, and then when they do all the tests and everything... What if they're all negative and the swelling going down isn't the cause."

Sam sighed and muted the TV. "Dean..."

"When I was a kid, I'd always wish for dad to come home... and sometimes I'd think I actually heard him come in the room or I'd think I saw his reflection in the window. If you want something as bad as I want to walk right now..."

"Dean, listen to me... I know our luck is usually bad luck, but this could be one of those rare times that it's actually good. We can always use our usual strategy which is 'hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.' It could be good news, it could be bad, but whatever it is, we'll deal with it. If I thought it would make you walk again, I'd give everything I had right now. Just try to stay positive, okay? If I hear you talk about bad news again, I'm afraid I'll have to punch you in the nose," he said, trying to look threatening.

Dean laughed. "Okay okay. I get it."

"Good. Now shut up and watch TV," he said, turning the volume back up.

"Yes sir." Dean was smiling as he watched a movie he had seen hundreds of times- Childs play. "With our line of work, is it weird if I think Chucky is awesome?"

"Just a little. Here's a question, if you had a case with a real life Chucky, what would you do?"

"Easy. Get the rocket launcher out, blow his little ass to hell… then borrow a steam roller and flatten him like a pancake, then salt and burn the remains to stop him from coming back. Simple."

"If it was that simple, they would've done it in the first movie."

"Yeah, but these people aren't as awesome as we are. Ooh ooh. Here's my favourite part," said Dean, pointing at the screen as Chucky revealed himself to be alive for the first time after threats of being thrown in the fire.

As Sam divided his attention between the movie and his brother, he couldn't help but hope that the news tomorrow was good.

If anyone deserved good news right now, it was Dean.

**TBC**


	16. Chapter 16

 

The next morning, the doctors took Dean away for the tests Dr Hayder mentioned the previous night, leaving the two men and the angel to worry in the quiet hospital room.

"Do you think Dean will be okay?" asked Cas, breaking the silence.

Sam stopped chewing on his thumbnail. "I hope so. I can't bear the thought of Dean been bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It'll break his heart. He's already showing signs of being depressed, I don't want to think about what it'll do to him if there's no chance of him walking again."

Sam was worried Dean could spiral into an even worse depression than he was already in, he was concerned about the self-destructive behavior he knew Dean would engage in. It scared the hell out of Sam, but most of all he worried he would hurt himself or say yes to Michael.

Each thought introduced a new snapshot, frame by frame, presenting a slideshow of 'what ifs'. Each image was more heartbreaking than the last.

He shook his head to get rid of the images. "It won't matter to me if he can walk or if he's in a chair. He'll always be my stubborn pain in the ass big brother. Whether it's good news or bad news, I'll always be here with him every step of the way... Whether he likes it or not."

"Me too," nodded Bobby. "He'll probably hate it and say he doesn't want to be a burden or some other load of crap. But I ain't going anywhere."

"I will stay also," Castiel added. "Dean is my friend. I will not leave him in his time of need."

"I hope it's good news," Sam whispered, before going back to chewing his thumbnail as he nervously waited for the doctor and his brother to return.

* * *

Over an hour later Dean was wheeled back into the room by two nurses, followed by the doctor. Sam, Castiel and Bobby shot to their feet in unison, each wearing identical expressions.

"How is he?" asked Sam, placing his hand on Dean's shoulder in support.

Dr Hayder sighed. "We've done multiple tests and scans and it looks like the swelling has subsided a little. He also was able to faintly feel it when I squeezed his leg, but couldn't feel it if I laid my hand gently on it."

"What does that mean?"

Dean interrupted in a quiet hopeful voice. "If the swellings going down and I've slowly started regaining feeling, does that mean I could eventually walk?"

"The bullet not only caused severe swelling of and around the spinal cord, but it also caused some minor damage when it clipped your spine, and the damage hasn't had a chance to fully heal yet." He watched as Sam took Dean's hand into his own, before continuing. "It's been a few weeks since the shooting and the swelling around the area has only just started to subside, which lets you feel the faintest touch and that's only when you put pressure on your leg. That would explain why you felt Lizzy fall on your leg but couldn't feel me touching it. It could be awhile before the swelling goes completely and you regain full feeling, and even longer before you're able to move your feet and legs due to both the swelling and the damage, but yes I think you could eventually walk out of here after more physical therapy."

Sam was smiling widely. "You could walk," he whispered as if any louder volume would change the outcome.

Dean was looking from Sam to the doctor as if he couldn't believe what the doctor was saying and was silently asking Sam if he was telling the truth. "I... Really?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"Really. You may not be able to walk without the assistance of a cane for the first few months. Like I said, it's not as if you feel the slightest touch and miraculously jump out of bed and walk. It'll take time."

"We don't care how long it takes as long as he ends up walking," said Bobby, standing closer to the bed.

"We'll take you for another scan in two or three days to keep an eye on it." The four of them shared looks of disbelief, making the doctor smile. "I'll leave you guys alone to let the news sink in. We'll let you get some rest today, but Rick will be here early tomorrow for another physical therapy session," he said, and quietly left the room.

A few silent minutes followed until Dean whispered, "Did he say what I think he said?"

Sam sat beside him. "He said what you think he said. You could finally leave this place on your own two feet. You could walk, run, drive... Do whatever you want."

Dean still seemed to be in shock. "I'm awake, right? I'm not still sleeping?"

Sam gave his hand a squeeze. "Feel that? It means you're awake. This is real, Dean."

"It's real," Dean repeated, still whispering. He gasped as he suddenly remembered something. "That's what I said right after it happened. What if this is part of the tricksters game... Or Gabriel. What if I'm still trapped in there and we don't know it. What..."

"Hey," Sam said firmly, cutting off Dean's ramblings. "This is real, okay? The gunshot wound, the hospital, the doctor, me, Bobby, Castiel, it's all real. We got out of there. We're back. This isn't a dream either. This is good news."

Dean started staring down at his unmoving legs as if willing them to move. He still couldn't believe eventually he could be better and walk again. Dean had waited for this kind of news since he woke up in the hospital, but the news hadn't sunk in yet. He didn't think it would until he was actually back on his feet again.

Sam was watching his brother worriedly. "You're quiet. What are you thinking?"

Dean shook his head. "Nothing. It's just..."

"Hard to take in?" he guessed and Dean nodded. Sam leaned his shoulder against his brother's. "I know. But at least it's the news we wanted. It doesn't matter how long it takes, it'll be worth it in the end."

Dean nodded again. He didn't want to speak too much or too loud in-case he woke up from a dream or somehow changed the outcome.

"I'd give anything to be able to feel my legs or be able to stand from the bed and walk," Dean whispered quietly. "But now there's a chance of that happening, and it's..."

"It's very overwhelming," said Castiel, sitting beside Dean and patting his leg comfortingly. He looked up at Dean hopefully. "Did you feel that?"

"No."

"Okay." Castiel hit Dean's leg harder and gave it a hard squeeze, making Dean gasp. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah. It was only really faint, like you tapped it gently, but I felt it."

Sam was smiling so hard, his face hurt. "See? It's not a dream."

A single tear slipped down Dean's cheek as he closed his eyes and hid his face against Sam's shoulder.

"Hey," said a surprised Sam, wrapping his arms around his brother, who was suddenly crying on his shoulder. "What's wrong? This is good news."

Dean's voice was muffled with tears and Sam's t-shirt. "I know. I'm happy." He raised his tear-stained face away from Sam. "I feel happy."

"Yeah. Ya look ecstatic right now," teased Bobby, trying to lighten the mood.

Dean let out a quiet laugh as he wiped his cheeks. "Sorry. I'm being stupid."

"No you're not. Let out everything you've held back, we'll be here."

"I cried like a frigging baby last night," Dean grumbled, wiping the last of his tears with one of the tissues on the bedside table. "I think my face has sprung a leak or something." He had tried to hold in his emotions in the past few weeks, but since he opened the floodgates the previous night, it seemed to be hard to close them.

"This is a hard time right now. There's no limit on how many tears you cry. Happy tears, sad tears. Cry all you want. Nobody's going to think you're weak. You're the strongest person we know, and even the strongest break sometimes," said Sam, tears in his own eyes.

For the second time in two days, the only sound in the quiet hospital room was Dean's sobbing and his family's comforting whispers.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Castiel was out doing an errand for Dean, and Sam and Bobby were down in the cafeteria. They didn't want to leave, but Dean had almost begged them to take a break, and both men knew Dean could do with some quiet time, so they reluctantly left him for awhile.

Castiel came back within an hour, this time he entered through the doorway instead of randomly appearing in the middle of the room. "Hello Dean."

Dean raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. "Wow. You finally decided to learn what a door is?"

"I already know what a door is, it's the entrance to a room," he said seriously, and presented Dean with the things he had asked for.

"Thanks Cas." Dean grinned and took the thick blue leather, spiral bound book and two fountain pens. "Whoa. You didn't have to get me something fancy, you know. A normal book and pen would do."

"I know. But I wanted to get you something special, and I went to this place writers use and asked them for the best things they had. They also recommended taking the book to a place that has something to do with graves. I told them I was not burying anybody so I didn't need a grave. They looked at me oddly and gave me the address, so I took the book there too."

"Grave? You mean engraving?"

"Yes, I think so. Look at the cover."

Dean turned the book over, and gasped when he saw the writing in calligraphy, and the engraved teddy bears on the front. "Whoa. Cas, this is beautiful."

"I am glad you like it."

"The kids are going to love this," said Dean, opening the book and flipping through the blank pages. Dean estimated there must have been at least 200 pages in the book. "I can write loads of stories in here. I can't wait."

When Dean finished with the book, he looked up at the angel with a serious expression. "Hey Cas. I haven't had the chance to thank you for being here. You didn't have to..."

"Yes I did."

"Let me finish. You didn't have to, but as soon as you heard, you came and stuck by me when I needed you and haven't left. I can't thank you enough for that."

Castiel sat on the chair by Dean's bedside. "Something I have learned from watching humans for many years is you stay by family, especially in their time of need and you Dean Winchester are my family... and you don't thank family."

"Wow. You're getting wise in your old age."

"I am already wise," said Castiel with a tiny hint of a smile. "And not just in my old age."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Very old."

"Thanks for narrowing it down," said Dean with an eyeroll. "It's really helpful."

"You're welcome," answered Cas, making Dean laugh.

Dean became serious again as he looked at the angel who had somehow become part of their small family. "I know this hasn't been easy for any of us, but with you guys right here with me... it doesn't make it easy, but it makes it bearable."

"I am glad to be here. I couldn't be anywhere else when you needed me."

"I don't know what I would've done without you guys here."

"Dean, you are a lot stronger than you think you are," said Castiel, patting Dean's hand. "Sam said he will stick by you every step of the way, but uh... You can't step anywhere right now, so I don't understand what he was talking about."

"He doesn't mean literally. It means he'll be here with me for everything, no matter what."

"Oh. Then I will be here every step of the way also."

"As much as I appreciate it, you're an angel. You could be out there doing good... Maybe even God's work. You don't have to be stuck in a hospital room just because I am. There are plenty of other people out there who need you right now, who are more worthy than I am. On the scale of worthy and worthless, I'm on the lower side of the scale."

Castiel's blue eyes narrowed. "That's not true. I have met thousands of humans in my long life but you are no ordinary human. Dean, you have made a bigger difference in your life so far than most humans combined. You have killed thousands of demons, vampires, and evil threats. You have saved countless lives, so why do you feel that your own life is worth nothing?" he asked Dean, who looked away.

Castiel looked at Dean's green eyes, which had looked haunted since he had pulled him out of hell. "I may have only known you for a short time, but I know you deserve to be happy as much as anyone, maybe even more than anyone because of all of the good things you have done."

"After everything I did in hell... After all those souls I tortured. I didn't care who they put in front of me, whether it was a man or a woman, whether they begged, cried or screamed. I tortured them. I ripped them apart, Cas... and I liked it." He swallowed heavily, blinking away the tears. "You still think I'm a good man?"

"Yes. Dean, not all those souls were like you... They didn't sell their souls to save a loved one. Many of those souls down there deserve to be there, they killed, raped, tortured others when they were alive. They were in hell because of the evil things they did on earth. I do not condone torture or inflicting pain on others, but every evil deed should be punished."

"Maybe I'm being punished," Dean whispered in a trembling voice. "This is my punishment for what I did."

"You may have become the torturer, but you were also the tortured... For three decades. The same amount of time you have been on earth. Everybody has a limit, Dean. Even you. Maybe I am to blame for not getting to you fast enough, for not saving you before it was too late. But God would not have commanded we pull you out if he didn't think you were worthy of it." He turned his eyes to Dean's legs. "If God really was punishing you, would he not want you to be paralysed for the rest of your life?"

Dean finally turned to Castiel with a hopeful expression. "I'm not been punished by God?"

"If God really did do this to punish you, then he is an ass-butt."

Dean looked taken aback, his shock clearly written on his face. "Did you call God an ass-butt?"

Castiel sat in silence for several seconds, looking horrified. "Yes. I think so... But only if he really did do this to punish you," he was quick to add, looking up for a second as if saying the last part to God himself. He looked back at Dean again. "You may think you are a monster, but I think you are the most loyal, most selfless and bravest person I have ever come across. You are one of the most amazing human beings I have ever encountered, and you really do not deserve to be put through the things you have."

Dean looked at Castiel skeptically. "Wow. You're getting really good at lying. Maybe it's doing you good being around me after all."

Castiel smiled softly. "I am unable to tell a lie. And in answer to your earlier suggestion... There may be others who need help, but there are also plenty of angels to help if they are needed. I want to be here, this is where I am needed, and I will continue to do so until you are back on your own two feet. So do not tell me whether I should be here or not... A pack of hellhounds could not remove me."

"Wild horses, Cas. It's Wi..." Dean raised his eyebrows. "Did you just make a joke?"

"I may have," Castiel nodded. He suddenly stood up, making Dean jerk in surprise at the movement.

Dean got the shock of his life when Castiel moved towards the bed, leaned closer and wrapped his arms around him. "Er... Cas? What are you doing?" he asked as he was suddenly face to chest with Castiel.

"It is customary for humans to comfort others with a hug." Castiel tightened the hug slightly, and rested his chin on Dean's hair. "Are you comforted?"

"No. I'm freaked out," Dean muttered against Castiel's chest. He winced as a pain shot up his back at the position he was in and the pressure that was being put on his back from Castiel's arms.

"That's odd. Hugs are supposed to comfort humans, not freak them out. Am I not doing it right?"

Dean moaned, his face scrunched up at the agony in his back. "You know what, you're doing an awesome job. I'm really comforted now," he whispered, his teeth gritted as he tried not to cry out in pain.

"You don't sound comforted," said Cas, not letting go of Dean. Instead he closed his eyes and put all his energy into the hug, letting all his power flow through him.

Dean gasped when he felt a soft comforting energy wash over him, and saw a faint light surrounding Cas and then a dark shadow surround him. But he wasn't freaked out anymore, he actually felt comforted and let himself relax into the hug.

If anyone walked into the room at that moment, they would have seen Castiel hugging Dean and a shadowy shape engulf them both. Other people would think it was their imagination, or the strange lighting in the room, but only an angel would know those shapes were the wings of another angel.

Dean closed his eyes and relaxed against his chest. For the first time in a long time he felt safe and protected, calm and at peace as he was hugged by an angel of the lord.

* * *

Sam walked into the room and saw Dean was sitting up against the mountain of pillows, the food tray was placed across the bed and he was using it as a desk.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked as he sat next to Dean and saw he was writing in a thick blue leather book he had never seen before. "Where did you get the book?"

"Cas. I asked him if he could get something for me to write in and he comes back with something a professional writer would use."

"What are you writing?" he asked, seeing the neat writing.

A blush stained Dean's cheeks as he closed the book and showed Sam the cover.

Sam smiled when he saw the engraved bears and  _'The adventures of the teddy bear knights'_  written neatly in calligraphy. "You're writing the stories of Danny and Stevie?"

"It's for the kids. For some reason they love the stories. At least this way, when I'm gone they'll still be able to hear the stories whenever they want."

"That's a great idea. But I think one of the reason they love them so much is because of their uncle Dean."

It was Dean's turn to smile. "You know, I don't even know why they call me that. The first time I went down, I told them my name was Dean and all of a sudden I was 'Uncle Dean'. It felt nice," he said, before he sighed sadly as he turned to Sam. "But I guess this will be the only chance I'll ever get to be 'Uncle Dean', right?"

Sam squeezed Dean's shoulder gently. "Just for the record, you'd be the best uncle in the world."

Dean was silent for almost a full minute, before a tiny smirk crossed his face. "Damn straight," he said, making Sam laugh. He turned back to the book, not looking at Sam as he spoke quietly. "When I get out of here, I might still visit them. I mean, they helped me when I felt really down, and they're in the same boat. The least I can do is try to make it easier for them."

"I bet they'll love it."

"Those kids make me smile even when I don't feel like it. When they're listening to me tell them stories, their little faces light up, and they look at me like... Like I matter. Like I'm the greatest thing since Santa or something. Nobody has looked at me like that since you were a kid."

"I may not look at you like that anymore, but I still feel the same. You can't turn those kind of feelings off." He smiled slightly and nudged Dean gently. "And I thought you were way better than Santa."

"Really? Even when you thought he was the one bringing you presents at Christmas?"

"Yeah. 'Santa' only came once a year, but you were there with me every single day. I didn't need presents to make me happy when I already had the best present. The best big brother in the world."

Dean blushed slightly as he looked down, with a tiny smile curling up the side of his mouth. "Thanks Sammy." He cleared his throat and picked the pen back up, ending the moment. "Okay, enough with the chick-flick moment. I've got work to do," he said, and continued writing about the teddy bear knights saving the kingdom of Winchester and saving princess Chevrolet.

 **TBC  
** **I think there will only be 2 or 3 more chapters and this story is finally finished.**


	17. Recovery

**This is the last chapter, so it's longer than the rest. It's my least favourite chapter, but at least the story is finally finished after 5 & half years. It was originally going to be longer, but I decided to put the last 2 chapters together & finally finish it.**

As the days went on, Dean had been slowly regaining a small amount of feeling. A few days after the tests, Dean was doing his physical therapy with Rick, trying to strengthen the muscles.

One of the exercises they did was Rick bringing one knee up to Dean's chest and holding for 30 seconds and then straightening the leg flat on the bed, before doing it with the other one.

During one of those times, Dean was able to feel Rick's hand on his foot and very faintly on his leg as he pushed it up to his chest. It was the first time he had been able to feel anything when someone wasn't squeezing his leg or foot, it was the first time he had felt a gentle touch since he was shot. Dean gasped loudly, shocking Rick, who almost dropped Dean's leg onto the bed, thinking he had somehow hurt the younger man.

After being able to feel Rick's hand without him squeezing his leg, they had spoke once again to Dr Hayder, who told them since the swelling was slowly receding, and the feeling was slowly returning, that it should hopefully get easier to move his foot or even his leg.

Rick told Dean to try to move his big toe, to concentrate on little movements first before trying to move larger muscles. Dean would spend hours staring at his big toe, trying to 'will' it to move, but the toe remained stubbornly dormant until finally he felt his toe flicker.

When he felt it move, Dean exhaled with the excitement of maybe defeating the paralysis. He kept moving his toe back and forth, grinning happily each time he did it. Sam, Bobby and Cas watched him with smiles almost as big as Dean's, each of them so happy and relieved to see him take this huge step forward.

The next day, he started working harder with Rick to get some movement in his foot too. They started off with a simple technique of Rick placing his hand on the sole of Dean's foot and telling him to push him away.

As Rick pushed harder against Dean's foot, he tried to use all his strength to push against his hand. It was hard when he could faintly feel the hand against the sole, but he couldn't do anything to push it away.

It was incredibly hard and frustrating, and each session ended with Dean near tears, exhausted, sweating and breathing hard, his whole body awash with agony. Sometimes he felt like giving up, but he just had to look at the hated wheelchair at the side of the bed and he was suddenly filled with a stronger desire and determination, strength and will to be out of the chair and up walking again.

Whenever Dean seemed to be getting tired, Rick would always tell him he was the most stubborn patient he had ever worked with and if anyone could do this, it was Dean.

Eventually all the hard work and stubbornness paid off, and soon Dean was able to move his right foot and push against Rick's hand.

Sam, Bobby and Cas couldn't have been happier with the news. They didn't think they would ever see Dean happy again, but the big smile on his face was wonderful to see.

After finally moving his right foot, Rick started to work on strengthening Dean's left foot and the muscles in his leg.

Dean focused all his attention on moving his left toe. He closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, but the left toe stayed motionless.

Dean started moving his right toe as he worked on moving his left one. He hoped if he concentrated on moving the two big toes at the same time, his left toe would follow his right.

But no matter how hard he tried, his left toe stayed stationary.

Dean worked even harder, putting everything he had into moving his left toe. Every minute of every day, he would be focusing on trying to move his toe. He pushed through the pain and each day would end with Dean left in agony and tears, angry that his own body was fighting against him.

There were days when Dean didn't think he would ever walk again, that his left side would never regain any movement or feeling, but it didn't stop him from trying.

Rick worked the younger man hard, and Dean's stubbornness once again paid off as he was rewarded with a flicker of movement of his big toe. Everyone was ecstatic at the news, but nobody was as happy and relieved as Dean was.

* * *

As soon as Dean was able to move his left foot, he had insisted on Rick helping him relearn to walk again. Rick had been reluctant, but Dean was stubborn and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He insisted on being back on his feet, desperate to be able to walk again. He was determined to relearn to walk as soon as possible and insisted on doing as much work as he could, even though he was still very weak.

After spending several days working hard, doing the physical therapy in his bed, trying to strengthen his muscles, he was now in the gym, holding onto the bars, staring down at his own two feet.

He had been doing this for the past four days, and the only thing he had been able to move so far was his right foot half an inch a couple of times, before he became exhausted and emotional, angry and frustrated.

Dean still couldn't stand at all unaided and was using his upper body strength to support his weight on the bars, he had some leg braces on for extra support so his legs didn't give way and collapse from underneath him. The swelling in his back hasn't subsided completely but it was still slowly going down. It was still painful, and his legs felt incredibly weak, and he only had a small amount of feeling, which seemed to be getting stronger each day, but Dean didn't want to be cooped up in bed any longer than necessary. He wanted to be back on his feet as soon as possible, and he wasn't going to give up until he was.

"Focus on your right foot first," coached Rick, standing on the other side of the bars. "Try to move your foot and your leg should follow."

Dean was standing with his hands gripped tightly onto the bars, focusing on his right foot, his teeth clenched in determination. He stared down at his foot and willed it to move. "Come on dammit. Move," he whispered, putting all his strength into the movement. This was so much harder than moving his toe or foot back and forth, he never realised how much hard work went into something as simple as walking.

Sam was standing at the halfway point in the middle of the bars, so if Dean managed to take any steps, he wouldn't have to take many to reach him. He stood with his hands clasped together, as if in prayer, watching him and giving him encouragement. "Come on Dean, you can do it."

Dean closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, which he held for a few seconds before slowly letting them out.

When Dean opened his eyes, Sam smiled when he saw that focused look in Dean's eyes, that look of determination on Dean's face, and that stubborn set to Dean's jaw which showed he meant business. He hadn't seen that look on his brother's face for a long time, and it was great to see it again.

Dean nodded to himself, and put all his concentration and strength into moving his foot. "I can do this," he whispered to himself. He always tried his hardest to live up to the name 'Winchester'. For them, the name meant they had to be tough, they had to be brave, they had to be strong, they had to be a hero. But he couldn't be tough if he couldn't even stand on his own two feet. He couldn't be brave if he was scared of letting his family down, of not being able to protect them. He couldn't be strong if he couldn't fight. He couldn't be a hero if he was useless.

All those thoughts going through his head gave him all the strength he needed. He wouldn't let a bullet in the back defeat him, he wouldn't let his body beat him, he would get control of it.

It took almost ten minutes, but finally his foot moved an inch forward, making Sam gasp.

"Oh my god," whispered Sam, placing his hands over his mouth. He had been in the gym with Dean at every session and he knew this was the most he had ever moved his foot.

Dean's breathing hitched and his eyes filled with tears as he struggled to move his left foot forward. His left leg was the weakest, so he had to try extra hard to get it to move. He squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip on the bars as he struggled to move his left foot.

"Come on Dean." Sam removed the car keys from his pocket and waved them around. "If you don't move any further, I'll run down into the parking lot and leave a loooooong scratch down the side of your baby... and you couldn't stop me," he teased with a grin.

"Oh you bitch."

Sam laughed and waved the keys once more. "If you want to stop me... get your skinny ass over here."

Even though Dean knew Sam wouldn't do anything to his car, he used the threat to his baby to give him more motivation, just like Sam knew it would.

Dean doubled his efforts, putting everything he had into moving his left foot. He tuned out everything apart from Sam and himself. He used the same drive, focus and determination he used to fight demons and vampires, wendigoes and shapeshifters. Dean had fought for others his entire life, now it was his turn to fight for himself.

When Dean managed to eventually take a second step forward, he looked up at Sam to see tear tracks running down his face, but he didn't seem to be aware he was crying.

Dean grinned at Sam, who grinned back, his chin quivering with emotion.

"Come on. Just a few more steps. You can do it, big brother," he said in encouragement. Sam had always taken being able to stand, walk or run for granted, to him they were simple things to do. But as he watched the sweat break out over Dean's heavily concentrating brow, the muscle in his jaw tighten and the tendons and veins in his neck tense, standing out in sharp contrast against his taut skin with the effort of moving his foot, he felt guilty he could do all those things without thinking about it, but Dean had to work so hard just to stand up and move his leg forward.

By the time Dean took his third step, he was covered in sweat and his back was engulfed in agony. It felt like someone had taken a red-hot poker and was stabbing him in the back, but he just gritted his teeth and fought through the pain like he had all his life. It didn't matter how much pain it caused, he was going to do this. He would be back on his feet and out of the hated chair if it was the last thing he did.

As Sam watched Dean very slowly walk towards him, he couldn't help the tears or the proud feeling he felt at watching his big brother finally back on his feet. He felt like a parent watching their child taking their very first steps. "That's it Dean. You're doing amazing. I'm so proud of you right now."

A faint blush coloured Dean's cheeks at the praise as he struggled to take another step. He could feel his body start to weaken with each step, but he continued to push through it.

When he finally made it to Sam, he was exhausted and let go of the bars, immediately collapsing into Sam's waiting arms.

Sam caught him as his legs gave way and carefully wrapped his arms around him, making sure he didn't put any pressure on his back. "I knew you could do it," he whispered into Dean's ear.

Dean closed his teary eyes and lifted his trembling arms to hug Sam. "I did it Sammy. I walked."

Sam's breathing hitched, and he closed his eyes against the flood of tears making their slow way down his face. "I told you you could end up walking out of here. You stubborn jerk," he said, making Dean laugh.

Dean's laughter quickly turned to sobs as the reality that he had really walked hit him. He felt Sam tighten his grip on him as he held him through his tears, he heard Sam whisper comforting words into his ear. For the first time in a long time they weren't the tears of sadness and loss they were the tears of happiness and joy.

"Shh. It's okay Dean. I've got you," whispered Sam with a sniffle as he continued holding Dean.

Since Dean couldn't stand unaided, Sam was the only thing keeping him upright, so there was no way he was letting his brother go. He had no problems holding Dean, since he had lost weight while being in hospital. But no matter how much Dean weighed, no matter how heavy he was, Sam was always willing to take that weight, he would always find the strength to carry his brother if he didn't have the strength to hold himself up.

Dean was shaking in Sam's arms and the fabric at his shoulder was wet with more than his perspiration. Sam pulled him closer and pressed his face into the curve of Dean's neck as they both cried.

They held onto each other as if nothing else in the world mattered. It was as if nobody else existed in that moment but the two of them.

* * *

After a few hours of rest, Dean was wheeled to the children's ward to see the kids. He knew he was going to miss them when he finally left the hospital, but he vowed to come back once or twice a month to see them. They helped him get through a really dark time and he wanted to do whatever it took to make the children laugh and help them through their own dark times. He was glad he could offer the kids the chance to have fun and take their minds off their injuries or illnesses.

Dean smiled when he saw them all playing in the play area. Lizzy and Emily were playing with their dolls with some of the other girls, and little Simon was playing with a box of Lego with another boy called Mikey.

He sat watching them for several minutes until a girl with blond pigtails and bandages around one of her hands and up her arm walked over to a little girl with a pink bandanna, dressed in a princess dress and playing with her princess doll.

His eyes narrowed when she took the doll from the other girl, and started making fun of her, calling her names and saying she couldn't be a princess because princesses are pretty and had hair.

The little bald girl, who Dean called Belle, burst into tears and covered her face with her hands as she sobbed into her little palms.

Dean looked around the play area for a nurse, but they all seemed to be busy with the other children, so he wheeled himself over and took the doll from the blond girl. She had only been at the hospital for two days, and hadn't made friends with any of the other children.

"There's no need for that. That was uncalled for and cruel," he said, giving the doll back to the other girl. "There you go Belle."

"T-Thank you uncle D-Dean," she managed through her sobs, hugging the doll close to her chest.

"You're welcome sweetheart." He turned back to the other girl. "Say you're sorry."

"No. I'm not saying sorry for something that's true. My mommy says to not be sorry for telling people the truth."

"I was going to tell you kids a story, but after what you did, the rest of the kids will get to hear it, but you won't."

The girl- Maria, scowled and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't care. I don't want to hear a stupid story. I don't want to be near baldy anyway," she said as she stormed off to the other side of the room.

Dean looked around for the nearest nurse and waved to get her attention. When she walked over he told her what Maria had done and said and she walked over and gently took her by her unburned arm and escorted her back to her room.

Belle was still crying, so Dean stroked his fingers down her cheek gently. "Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"No. I'm sad," she sobbed, her tears streaming down her little pale face. When Dean held his arm out, she carefully climbed up onto his lap and cuddled up to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

Belle sobbed into Dean's chest, her small form shaking from the strength of her cries. She was holding onto him around his waist, her little arms not reaching all the way around. She clutched at him, burrowing her head into Dean's chest as she snuggled in as tightly as she could.

"Shh. It's okay, sweetheart," Dean soothed as he held her. "Ignore what the nasty girl says to you, Belle. Bullies only bully other people to make themselves feel good."

Belle's breathing hitched, and her face was red and blotchy as she continued crying in Dean's arms. When she calmed down slightly, she looked up at Dean with big watery blue eyes. "W-Why do you call me Belle? Everyone calls me Anna or Annabelle if I'm in trouble. I'm Annabelle a lot when I'm at home."

"Have you ever seen Beauty and the beast?"

"Yes. We watch lots of Disney. I love princesses and I love princess Chevylay the mostest."

"Well, 'Beautys' name is Belle and do you know what the word Belle means?" She shook her head. "It means Beautiful. And you..." He pressed his finger gently to her nose. "Are my beautiful little princess."

Belle's face lit up with so much joy and happiness, and her smile was so big her dimples came out and that made Dean's heart warm in his chest. He used his thumb to wipe her remaining tears and lowered his head to press a gentle kiss to her bandana-covered bald head, making a blush colour her pale cheeks.

"Thank you for making me happy uncle Dean."

"You're welcome princess Belle," he said, making her giggle. "If anyone says you can't be a princess you can tell them you're uncle Dean's princess, okay?"

"Yeah. Love you uncle Dean," she said, snuggling up to his chest.

"I love you guys too."

"Can you come and play with us?"

"Oooh. I don't know about that," said Dean, pursing his lips as he pretended to think about it.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase," she begged, her bottom lip poking out, her eyes going big and round.

Unable to say no, Dean shook his head and sighed. "Okay. Put those things away."

"Yaaaay." Belle climbed down from Dean's lap and walked around to the back of the chair, to try to push him.

"What are you doing? You'll hurt yourself. I can wheel myself over."

"No I can do it." As she tried to push the chair, some of the other kids came over and helped her to push him over to where they were playing.

"Don't make me crash into a wall or anything."

The children giggled. "OKAY UNCLE DEAN!" They peeked around the chair so they could see where they were going. "BEEP BEEP!" they yelled when they saw little Simon sitting in the way.

"Hey little man. Quickly, before we run you over," said Dean, waving his arms.

Simon giggled and ran out of the way, before running behind him and joining the other kids as they pushed their 'uncle' Dean around the room.

Sam was standing at the door, watching Dean with the kids. He smiled as he listened to his brother laugh. Dean really came alive when he was with the kids, it was almost as if they made him forget about his injured back. They pulled him out of the darkness and took away his sadness and made him happy again. It was easy to see the kids loved their 'uncle' Dean just as much as he loved them, and it made him glad they could all have fun and laugh, even though they were in hospital.

* * *

After playing pirates with the boys for an hour, and princes and princesses with the girls for another hour, Dean asked a nurse to get the two teddies and the new black horse from the shelf where they kept them and a pink teddy from one of the kids.

The only sounds in the room were Dean's voice as he spoke in his normal voice to tell the story, the deep growly voice for Danny, the high squeaky voice for Stevie, and a girly voice for the princess, and the laughter from the children.

"Once upon a time, Danny and Stevie were out protecting the kingdom of Winchester when suddenly a giant shadow appeared and knocked out Danny and kidnapped Stevie. When Danny woke up he growled 'Sonofawitch' when he couldn't find his pain in the butt little brother. As Danny prepared to go find him, Princess Chevrolet offered to help. Danny was reluctant but he knew the princess was strong and brave and wasn't scared of anything and she knew how to fight with a bow and arrow so he finally said yes. The two rode on Impalette and searched the kingdom and its surroundings to find the lost knight."

They all listened as the princess was really brave and fought against the army of evil snowmen with Danny. When they found Stevie, they saw he had been frozen and was held in the fortress of carrots and candy canes.

"Danny and princess Chevrolet fought side by side, swords were swinging, arrows were flying as the battle continued. The princess even managed to save Danny when one of the snowmen creeped up behind him and tried to freeze him."

Castiel had joined them, and was controlling the 'snowmen', who were some white teddies he had gotten from the gift shop. He seemed to enjoy playing with the children and helping Dean tell the stories with the teddies, and the kids liked the angel too, even though they didn't always understand what he was saying.

"During the battle, Danny's trusty sword Zeppelin was frozen into the ground, so he had to fight with two candy canes. When all the enemies were defeated, Danny and princess Chevrolet had to melt the snow that had frozen Stevie and Danny's sword with a magic fire spell. They released Stevie, who was a total drama queen after being rescued because some of his girly hair had been snapped off when it had still been frozen. He recited a dramatic poem about his loss, making Danny and the princess roll their eyes. 'Don't worry, I'll buy you a mop to put on your head until it grows back,' said Danny."

Dean looked down at Belle as he spoke the next part. "Danny told the princess she was the bravest and strongest princess in the kingdom of Winchester and no matter what she fought against, he knew she would always win and kick some ass," he said, winking at Belle, who smiled up at him. "They all celebrated their reunion before going back to the kingdom of Winchester, and they all lived happily ever after for a long time."

The children clapped and cheered in delight, making everyone in the room smile.

"Until someone took the princess again," Lizzy added, and started giggling.

"But she's the mostest brave now and she can fight the nasty big meanie heads," said Belle with a grin.

"Damn straight," Dean agreed with a nod and a grin of his own.

* * *

Later Sam walked into Dean's room to see him prodding himself in the right leg with one of his fingers. He frowned as he approached the bed, and sat in the chair. "What the hell are you doing?"

Dean was silent as he continued with what he was doing for several minutes.

"Dean will you stop poking yourself in the leg?"

"But I can feel it, Sammy. It's awesome," he said with a grin, once again jabbing himself in the leg.

"Can you feel everything? Is the feeling fully back yet?"

"Not yet. I can only feel certain things, mostly on my right side. The feelings not fully back... but at least I've got some feeling. It's more than I had a couple of weeks ago."

"I'm really proud of you. Watching you walk towards me today was amazing. I felt like every parent must feel when their child walks for the first time."

Dean blushed slightly, like he always did when someone praised him. "I wish I could wake up tomorrow and be able to get up and walk. I wish I could recover from this straight away instead of the recovery been really slow. It'll take months, and I hate waiting."

"Me too. But you can't run before you can walk. It'll take a long time before you're fully back on your feet, but I'll be right by your side every step of the way... Literally."

"For the past couple of months, every time I saw someone walking, it reminded me that I couldn't. I was actually jealous of people doing something as simple as walking." Dean looked down at his legs and shook his head. "And now there's a big chance I could walk again, and it's..." His voice suddenly sizzled away like a drop of water on a hot skillet.

Sam looked over and saw the single tear slipping down his cheek. He placed his hand over Dean's in support. "Are you alright?"

Dean nodded and wiped the tear with his sleeve. "Yeah," he whispered with a sniffle. "Sorry, I'm being a wuss."

"Hey, you're the strongest person I know. You're anything but a wuss. Anybody in your situation would've broken completely by now, but you've just cracked a couple of times. If anything, that makes you strong. If I hear you say anything like that again, I'll get Bobby to slap you around the head."

"Oh thanks," said Dean, nudging Sam's shoulder with his own.

"Well, you need someone to knock some sense into you," Sam teased. "And Bobby's the right person to do it."

"Bobby's the right person to do what?" asked Bobby, walking into the room with some coffee.

"Knock some sense into Dean," Sam told him, taking his coffee from the older man. "Thanks."

"I've been knocking sense into the idjit since ya were both kids. It's one of my jobs." Bobby handed one of the cups to Dean, who looked surprised. "I asked the doc, and he said ya can have one."

"Thanks Bobby." The heat from the cup warmed Dean's hands, and the smell tickled his nose and filled his lungs. At the first sip, the taste hit the back of his throat like salvation as the caffeine started to infiltrate his bloodstream. It was just as Dean liked his coffee- Black as night and hot as hell. "Mmmmm. I've missed coffee."

"I've noticed. Ya reminded me of Homer Simpson when he drools for a donut for a minute there."

Dean laughed and took another heavenly sip of his coffee. "Mmm. Speaking of heavenly, where's Cas?"

"He said he had something to do, but he'll be back soon."

* * *

The three of them talked until Castiel showed up. When he appeared in the room, he was holding a long thin wooden box in his arms. "Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas. What's that?"

"It's a box."

"Yeah thanks," said Dean with an eye-roll. He watched as Cas carried the item towards his bed and placed it on his legs. "Is that for me?"

"Yes. I have been working on it for several days. After the doctor told us when you are back on your feet you would need help walking with the help of a cane, it gave me an idea. You can open it."

"Ooooooh." Dean carefully unlatched the box and opened it to reveal a beautiful black and silver cane with a car as a handle. "Oh my god. It's beautiful," he whispered, lifting it out of the box.

"The cane will help support you. It is also a weapon you can use to defend yourself if demons or angels or anything else thinks you are vulnerable and decide to attack you."

"What do you mean?"

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the cane. When Dean gave it to him, Cas held the handle in his right hand and used his first two fingers to press the 'headlights' which were buttons, and used his thumb to press on the door simultaneously. There was a clicking sound and the handle ejected to reveal it was attached to an angel blade, which was safely hidden inside the cane.

Cas lifted the blade carefully, holding it away from the other three men. "I have crafted the blade onto the car, which is in the place of a normal handle. The blade will not come out unless you know how to open it. If you press the buttons which are the headlights at the same time as you press one of the doors, it will eject itself. When you finish with the blade, carefully place it back into the cane," he said, placing the angel blade inside, and pressing a button on the back of the car. There was another 'click' and the cane looked like a regular cane once again.

"Wow. That's awesome," said Dean, staring in awe at the cane/blade. "Thanks Cas."

"You are very welcome. I am positive no angels would be able to find you, but I was concerned about other creatures and beings attacking you since you cannot protect yourself properly due to your injuries, so I made sure you would be able to. This blade is one of the most powerful weapons in all of existence and can kill almost anything."

"Including you."

"Yes. But I am on your side and also a friend so you would not need to use a blade to attack me. You have to make sure not to leave it in the hands of anyone else. It will be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Don't worry Cas. I won't let this out of my sight," Dean promised, using his fingers and thumb to unlock the handle and reveal the blade. It took a couple of tries, but on the third attempt he was able to release the blade. "I did it."

Cas smiled and nodded once. "Good. Now you are protected. Bobby, Sam and I will be with you, but there is no harm in extra protection. There is a human saying 'its better to be safe than sorry' which means you should be cautious, if you are not you may regret it. And I think that applies in this situation."

Sam was watching Dean familiarise himself with his new cane, and had to admit it was kind of cool. He was glad the angel had thought of Dean being vulnerable and a easy target for demons and other beings and had made something that would help protect him if him, Bobby or Castiel weren't around to do it.

When Dean finally put down the cane, he looked up at the TV, and his eyes widened when he saw one of his favourite movies was on. "Oh my god, it's Batman."

"Where?" asked Cas, turning to look around as if expecting Batman to have suddenly appeared in the room.

"On the TV, doofus," said an amused Dean.

"Oh." Castiel sat on the bed beside Dean, and looked up at the screen as Sam turned up the volume so they could hear it.

Dean was staring at Castiel, who was sitting so close to him, their shoulders were touching. "What are you doing?"

"You said you would watch Batman with me. Batman is on right now, so now is the opportune time to watch it."

"Now is the what time to watch it?"

"Opportune. It means the suitable or convenient time for a particular occurrence."

Dean turned to the TV, trying to ignore the close proximity of the angel sitting right beside him.

"Is that Batman?" asked Cas, pointing at someone on the screen.

"No."

"Is that Batman?"

"No. That's my man Jack."

"You're in a relationship with a man?"

Dean shook his head in exasperation. "That's Jack Nicholson, he's awesome. He plays the Joker."

Castiel nodded and was silent for a minute, before pointing at someone else. "Is that Batman?"

Dean rolled his eyes and turned to Sam. "Is it illegal to strangle an angel to death?"

"I don't know about illegal, but it's probably impossible."

"Is that Batman?"

"Oh my god, would you be quiet for a minute?"

"I am not god, I am an angel of the lord," came the serious response, making Dean roll his eyes again.

When Batman finally came on the screen, Dean pointed at him. "That's Batman."

"Oh," was Castiel's only response, which made Dean laugh.

"Oh? Is that it? You've been driving me crazy, asking if every person on the screen is Batman and as soon as Batman actually comes on, all we get is 'Oh'?"

"I thought that was the appropriate response to discovering something you didn't previously know."

"Right. Don't get too excited, you might sprain something."

"Okay," said Cas, as he sat unmoving, unblinking, his eyes wide as he stared at the screen.

Dean kept dividing his attention between Cas and Batman, his expression fond as he watched the angel doing a perfect impression of a statue.

"Hey Cas, are you alive?" asked Dean, giving him a nudge. When Castiel didn't answer, he waved his hand in-front of his face, which remained motionless. "Ca-as?" When there was still no response, he turned to Sam. "If he wasn't an angel, I'd be worried the dude had died with his eyes open or something."

"At least we know he's enjoying it."

"Of course he's enjoying it, it's Batman," said Dean, turning his full attention to the movie.

Sam and Bobby looked at each other and smiled fondly as the two figures on the bed stared at the TV, one of them not blinking at all, the other only blinking when his eyes became sore.

As Dean watched Batman with Cas, he thought about everything that had happened in the past couple of months. Since he had been in the hospital, this was definitely his favourite day. Not only did he walk for the first time in several weeks, he had lots of fun with the kids and now he was watching one of his favourite movies with his three favourite people, and he could finally see the light at the end of a dark tunnel.

He had read a quote about The darkest experiences in a human being's life allow that person to either go deeper and stay depressed or get the strength to stand up stronger than ever.

Dean was taking slow steps toward the end of that dark tunnel, and he was doing it on his own two feet. He had been through one of the worst times of his life, one of the darkest times he had ever been through, but he knew he had his family by his side no matter what.

Dean was still standing and he was definitely stronger than he had ever been, and he had his family and the kids from the children's ward to thank for that.

 ***The End*  
** **I'm terrible at endings, but I h** **ope you like it anyway. :)**


End file.
